Michael Duyzend, MPhil, MD, PhD

Prenatal Genomics, Genomics of the Developmental Continuum, Cell-Free DNA Screening, and Computable Phenotypes

Dr. Duyzend received an MPhil in computational biology from the University of Cambridge (UK), and MD and PhD degrees from the University of Washington in Genome Sciences. His graduate work focused on understanding the genetic underpinnings of neuropsychiatric disease, in which he employed techniques including genome and long-read sequencing. He completed combined residencies in Pediatrics through the Boston Combined Residency Program (BCRP) and Medical Genetics through the Harvard Genetics Training Program. During his training, Dr. Duyzend developed a clinical interest in prenatal and neonatal genomics, and his research can directly inform clinical practice.

Dr. Duyzend’s research focuses on the genomics of the perinatal continuum, with a special emphasis on understanding the prenatal presentations of genetic disease. In this mode, he co-leads the Fetal Genomics Consortium (www.fetalgenomics.org), an international collaboration of researchers dedicated to understanding the genomic architecture of stillbirth and fetal structural anomalies. This includes technology development around non-invasive inquiry of the fetal genome. Part of this work is building a repository of prenatal phenotype and genotype data, including standardization of genomic data, and encoding phenotypes in a computable fashion. This project has been recognized as a Driver Project by the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (https://www.ga4gh.org/) for its ability to stimulate development of standards in genomics and health research.

Overall, Dr. Duyzend strives to implement and develop genomic medicine in an expeditious, effective, just, reasoned, and sound manner.

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