Intermountain Genetics Institute Director Named Vice President

SALT LAKE CITY, UT (4/16/2009) – Marc S. Williams, M.D., director of the Intermountain Healthcare Clinical Genetics Institute at LDS Hospital, has been named a vice president of the national professional organization that oversees physicians, researchers and counselors who work in the field of medical genetics.

The American College of Medical Genetics draws on the latest evidence to develop guidelines and standards for genetic research and patient care, advocates for quality genetic services in healthcare and in public health, and promotes the development of methods to diagnose, treat and prevent genetic disease.

As the college’s vice president of clinical genetics, Dr. Williams will work with a committee that is developing guidelines for physicians to follow in screening and treating patients who have or are at risk of developing genetic conditions. The group is also working to educate the public about what they can and should expect from personal genetic testing, which is growing in popularity but often does not give individuals the context with which to interpret their own results.

Williams is trained as a pediatrician and was board-certified in clinical genetics in 1996. Since January of 2005, he has been the director of the Intermountain Healthcare Clinical Genetics Institute at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. He also runs a clinic for evaluation of adults with mental retardation, birth defects and genetic disorders. Williams is a clinical professor of pediatrics in the Division of Medical Genetics and adjunct professor of biomedical informatics at the University of Utah.

“This is a very exciting branch of medicine,” says Dr. Williams. “It is gratifying to play a role in how our patients will be cared for — and hopefully cured — in the future.”

His appointment will run for two years.

The Intermountain Healthcare Clinical Genetics Institute provides testing, diagnostic and counseling services to adults and children. In addition, institute staff members are involved in evaluating advances in genetic medicine, developing new genetic intervention protocols, and learning how to apply genetic information to disease prevention and treatment.

More information is available at 801-408-8957.