Research Collaborations

Patient care is at the heart of everything we do at the Greenwood Genetic Center. The field of genetic and genomic medicine is advancing quickly with breakthroughs happening at an exciting pace. The Greenwood Genetic Center’s JC Self Research Institute of Human Genetics is leading the way in identifying the causes and mechanisms for birth defects, intellectual disabilities and rare metabolic diseases.

Research collaboration is key to pool talent and resources for the sharing of discoveries, advancing of technologies and development of treatments for the good of our patients and their families.  Advances in medicine occur faster when researchers, laboratory scientists and clinicians collaborate to learn more about genetic diseases. Scientists in the Research Division actively share information and discoveries with the other divisions at GGC as well as with researchers and clinical collaborators from around the world to help GGC reach its goal of reducing the prevalence and impact of genetic disorders. 

Clemson Center for Human Genetics

GGC has joined efforts with the CCHG to expand the genomic capabilities of both Centers through collaborations aimed at uncovering the genetic diagnosis for patients whose answer was not found through prior testing.  We actively collaborate with the CCHG on numerous research projects, including the use of fruit flies to model genetic disorders and test how natural variation in the genome can influence disease severity and penetrance.

University of South Carolina

GGC researchers have developed research collaborations with scientists at UofSC and UofSC School of Medicine.  These interactions range from collaborative studies on autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, the training of medical students during summer rotations, and functional studies projects on mitochondrial disorders. 

Partnering with Pharmaceutical Companies

In light of our ultimate goal to identify treatments for genetic disorders, researchers at GGC engage in several partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions to develop and test therapies.  Dr. Richard Steet and Dr. Heather Flanagan-Steet are working with pharmaceutical companies and external collaborators to explore new therapies for PMM2-CDG and ML-II.

Meet the Shenal Family

Our daughter, Ryleigh, was diagnosed with a rare chromosomal deletion shortly after she was born in 2010. Since we received her diagnosis, the Greenwood Genetic Center has become part of our family. They made certain that we did not feel alone, and they continue to provide ongoing, compassionate care for our child. The impact they have had on our family and others across the globe everyday is immeasurable. We can't imagine walking this journey without...

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