ArmGenia

The HUMAN GENOME PROJECT IN ARMENIA

MOU Signed with UCLA for Mapping of Armenian Genome

WESTWOOD, Calif.—As 2015 marked the 100th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide and global attention was focused on Armenia, a group of Armenian investigators set out to launch a research program that would map the Armenian genome. This initiative was made possible with a monetary gift generously donated by Sara Chitjian, a UCLA alumna whose father had witnessed and survived the Armenian genocide.
On Friday, February 19, Dr. Thomas Coates, director of the UCLA Center for World Health; Dr. Wayne Grody, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, pediatrics, and human genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; and Drs. Sevak Avagyan and Evgeni Sokurenko, co-founders of the ArmGenia Research Charitable Trust, Yerevan, Armenia, signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) sealing the research partnership between the two organizations.
The main objective of this research project is to better understand the genetic roots of Armenian people. The timing of this project is also fortuitous as Armenia still has a large number of centenarians that could participate in this genetic mapping while they are alive. At the signing ceremony,  Chitjian stated that her hope is that the findings from this genome project would be useful in historical studies of the Armenian population.
This MOU fits well with UCLA’s legacy of working towards the advancement of global health, education, and collaborative medical research. Not only will this genetic mapping have a great impact on the life sciences and offer enormous benefits in terms of better general health care for the Armenians worldwide, but the study could also lead to important findings on Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF), a genetic disorder that is more prevalent among Armenians than any other nation.
The project builds on UCLA’s 60-year-old FMF program — one of the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere — and provides comprehensive interdisciplinary expertise. Dr. Wayne Grody will be one of the principal investigators, performing the molecular work.
Salpy Akaragian, RN-BC, MN, director of the UCLA International Nursing Program, who was instrumental in connecting UCLA to the co-founders of ArmGenia Research Charitable Trust, Drs. Avagyan and Sokurenko, coordinated the all-day celebration. A number of VIPs, such as the Honorable Ara Najarian, esq. the Mayor of Glendale; the Honorable Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, esq.; and Consul Armela Shakaryan from the Consulate of Armenia in Los Angeles, were also present to witness this historical moment. By Fedra Djourabchi

Dr. Sevak Avagyan, co-founder of the ArmGenia Research Charitable Trust of Yerevan, Armenia, and Thomas Coates, director of the Center for World Health at UCLA, signed an MOU to seal their research partnership on a project to map the Armenian genome.

A group of Armenian scientists who are launching a research program to map the Armenian genome recently signed a memorandum of understanding to partner with UCLA researchers in the hope of gaining a better understanding of the genetic roots of Armenian people.

Sevak Avagyan, co-founder of the ArmGenia Research Charitable Trust of Yerevan, Armenia, recently signed the agreement last month with Thomas Coates, director of the Center for World Health at UCLA, sealing the research partnership.

The timing of this project is fortuitous. Armenia still has a large number of centenarians who can participate in genetic mapping while they are alive, researchers said. Last year marked the 100th commemoration of the Armenian genocide when global attention was focused on Armenia.

The initiative was made possible by a monetary gift generously donated by Sara Chitjian, a UCLA alumna whose father had witnessed and survived the Armenian genocide. At the signing ceremony, she stated that her hope is that findings from this genome project will be useful in historical studies of the Armenian population.

Not only will genetic mapping have a great impact on the life sciences, said representatives of the partnership, but it will offer enormous benefits in terms of better general health care for Armenians worldwide. The study could lead to important findings on Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF), a genetic disorder that is more prevalent among Armenians.

The project will build on UCLA’s 60-year-old FMF program — one of the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The program will provide the project with comprehensive interdisciplinary expertise. Dr. Wayne Grody, director of the UCLA Clinical Genomics Center and a professor of pathology, human genetics and pediatrics at the Geffen School of Medicine and Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA, will be one of the principal investigators performing the molecular work.

Coordinating the all-day celebration was Salpy Akaragian, director of the UCLA International Nursing Program, who was instrumental in connecting UCLA officials to leaders of the ArmGenia Research Charitable Trust.

 Several VIPs, including Mayor Ara Najarian of Glendale, California Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian and Consul Armella Shakaryan from the Consulate General of Armenia in Los Angeles also witnessed the signing.  

The gift, given in support of the project, is part of the $4.2 billion UCLA Centennial Campaign, which is scheduled to conclude in December 2019 during UCLA’s 100th anniversary year.