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Personalized Medicine

We are working to transform health care by accelerating the research and use of genetic and genomic information in the clinical setting to improve patient care.

About us

We offer services to clinicians and researchers operating on the leading edge of personalized medicine. Taking the promise of personalized health care from the lab to the clinic requires smart people and smart technology. Our unique, clinical-grade data management and reporting systems combined with expert analyses, provide the foundation for knowledge sharing and clinical adoption that is advancing the field.

Personalized medicine: what we do

Transforming healthcare through personalization of medical care 

We build, validate, launch and continuously improve the laboratory, clinical, research and information technology capabilities that underlie genomic based medicine. Whether you’re an investigator looking to integrate genomics into your research or a physician looking to improve patient care through genetic testing, we’re here to help through a collaborative, consultative team approach to finding answers.

Protecting Patients | Empowering Care

Our committed professionals understand each test is more than a sample; it’s a patient.  We take great care to share results in clear, accurate reports that are clinically meaningful and actionable for treatment and prevention. We continually strive to transform health care and improve the quality of care at Mass General Brigham and beyond.

Today, Mass General Brigham Personalized Medicine offers whole genome and exome sequencing to help detect disease risks and improve the accuracy of diagnoses.  Improvements in detection can lead to more targeted, effective, and sometimes preventative care which means improved quality at a lower cost, and most importantly, better outcomes for patients.

The investigative and clinical work of Mass General Brigham Personalized Medicine is backed by a world-class, bioinformatics and information technology infrastructure that include GeneInsight® and GIGPAD. These and other applications developed by and utilized by the center are critical to managing the data intensive, rapid pace of genetic testing and research.

Shaping personalized medicine together 

Together we can make a difference. Whether you’re an investigator looking to integrate genetics or genomics into your research or a physician looking to improve patient care through genetic testing, we’re here to help through a collaborative, consultative team approach to finding answers. 

Mass General Brigham (MGB) Personalized Medicine comprises three areas that work together to provide you with industry leading personalized medicine services including the MGB Biobank, Laboratory for Molecular Medicine (LMM) and Biobank Genomics Core (BGC).

Laboratory for Molecular Medicine

The Laboratory for Molecular Medicine (LMM) is a CLIA-certified molecular diagnostic laboratory, operated by Mass General Brigham Personalized Medicine. The LMM brings the promise of personalized medicine from the lab and into the clinic.  We provide services to our patients and their physicians through targeted genetic tests, whole genome sequencing, and leading many clinical translational studies. From detecting pre-symptomatic heart conditions such as cardiomyopathy (Pan Cardiomyopathy Panel), to tests for genetic-based hearing loss in children (OtoGenome), we are working with researchers and physicians to make a difference in the lives of patients.

Comprehensive testing services

We offer comprehensive testing services to support clinical research and clinical practice. Working with LMM, you and your team will have access to: 

  • A wide range of tests, including single gene, multiple gene panel,  and genome sequencing.
  • Comprehensive, evidence-based, personalized and accurate reports that are clinically meaningful.
  • Prominent clinical molecular geneticists, researchers, physicians and genetic counselors within the Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham backed by GeneInsight Suite®, an advanced system that streamlines the interpretation and management of genetic data and knowledge.

Our team of experts will help you determine the best testing strategy for your clinical cases and guide you in choosing the most appropriate  testing for your needs. Results are thoroughly reviewed and translated in a streamlined manner specific to your patient’s phenotype and genotype and are clearly explained to you as well as, if need be, to your patient.

Mass General Brigham Biobank

The MGB Biobank is an ongoing research program enrolling patients across Mass General Brigham for collection of samples for a variety of research projects. To date, more than 137,000 participants have consented to join the MGB Biobank. DNA, and/or plasma, and serum samples are available from 84,000+ consented subjects and health information survey data is available for 63,000+ subjects. 

Patients are fully consented for:

  1. broad use for genomics, biomarker, and epidemiology research
  2. linkage with electronic health records and survey data (health behaviors, lifestyle, and family history)
  3. recontact for additional biologic sampling and phenotyping
  4. data sharing with dbGaP and approved collaborators 
  5. return actionable genetic results to Biobank participants.

Biobank Genomics Core

MGB Biobank Banked Samples (plasma, serum, and DNA) collected from consented patients.

Biobank provides banked samples (plasma, serum, and DNA) collected from consented patients. These samples are available for distribution to MGB investigators with appropriate approval from the MGB Institutional Review board (IRB). They are linked to clinical data from the electronic medical record (EHR), and survey data (health behaviors, lifestyle, and family history) To date, more than 137,000 patients have consented to join the MGB Biobank at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), McLean Hospital (MCL),Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital (SRH), and Mass Eye and Ear (MEEI) or online through Patient Gateway.

Genomic Data

The MGB Biobank has genotype data for ~65,000 subjects from the Infinium Global Screening Array-24 BeadChip (GSA) and/or the Illumina Multi-Ethnic Genotyping Array (MEG array) Whole Exome Sequencing data for ~54,000 participants are available now. 

Sequencing and Genotyping Services

The Biobank Genomics Core (BGC) offers end-to-end support for your translational and clinical sequencing and genotyping projects. 

Our primary services are next-generation sequencing (NGS) on the Illumina NextSeq 550 and NovaSeq 6000 sequencing platforms and array-based genotyping on Illumina’s Infinium platform including the GDA and GSA (genome-wide arrays), as well as the EPIC (global methylation) arrays. . In addition, we offer library construction for sequencing for a range of applications including whole genome, whole exome or gene panel sequencing, RNA-seq, microRNA-seq, as well as other types of libraries and applications (see link below for more information). 

The BGC also offers advanced bioinformatics support for sequencing projects such as alignment, variant calling and alignment for DNA sequencing projects and differential expression analysis for RNA-seq and microRNA-seq projects, among others.