ArmGenia Gala Tickets
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ArmGenia Gala Tickets 〰️
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
Genomic Analysis of an Ancient Armenian Population from the Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh Region and Other Areas of Armenia
Implications for Public Health Policy in the Homeland and the Diaspora
Lecture by Wayne W. Grody, M.D., Ph.D. is a Professor in the Departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics, and Human Genetics, and the Institute for Society and Genetics, at the UCLA School of Medicine and Evgeni V. Sokurenko, M.D., Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington.
This event is co-sponsored by the UCLA Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, the Armenian International Medical Fund, the Armenian American Nurses Association, the Armenian American Medical Society, and the Armenian Medical International Committee.
The Armenian Medical Genomics Project Examining DNA Samples from Artsakh
Dr. Wayne Grody, MD, PhD, professor in the departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics and Human Genetics at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, and Salpy Akaragian, PhD, RN, Founder of AIM Fund.
In 2020, The Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA provided a seed grant to the Armenia Medical Genomics Project to sequence and interpret DNA samples collected from Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh.
"Studying very ancient populations that have not interbred with others is also valuable in human genetics...Unfortunately, because Armenia is such a small country, it has been ignored by human geneticists up until now." — Dr. Wayne Grody
By Hasmik Baghdasaryan, program representative, The Promise Armenian Institute
In 2016, UCLA and ArmGenia Research Charitable Trust of Yerevan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to sequence and interpret genomes on DNA samples from Armenia in hopes of gaining a better understanding of the genetic roots of the Armenian people. This collaboration was realized thanks to a generous donation from UCLA alumna and daughter of Armenian genocide survivors, Sara Chitjian. To date, 49 DNA samples have been sequenced, interpreted and presented under the leadership of Dr. Wayne Grody and his team in the UCLA Clinical Genomics Center. In 2020, The Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA provided a seed grant to the Armenia Medical Genomics Project to continue sequencing and interpretation of 30 additional samples collected from Artsakh. I recently sat down with Dr. Grody, a professor in the departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics and Human Genetics at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, and Salpy Akaragian, director emeritus, UCLA Health, to talk about the project. Continue reading
Dr. Sevak Avagyan, Dr. Wayne Grody, and Dr. Salpy Akaragian at the 6th International Medical Conference in Armenia presenting the Cochlear Implant and the ArmGenia projects.