Avera Institute for Human Genetics

The Avera Institute for Human Genetics has expanded its research on personalizing medicine, the process of customizing health care or medical treatment specific to an individual’s needs. The Avera Institute for Human Genetics (AIHG) and Avera Research Institute (ARI) currently have active protocols for research projects investigating the benefit of pharmacogenomics in treating patients.

Pharmacogenomics, the study of how an individual’s genetic make-up affects how that individual will respond to medications, is one of the most important components of personalized medicine and provides physicians a tool to help them make predictions on drug effectiveness, optimal dose and potential adverse reactions, individualized to the patient.

Avera McKennan has developed a formal working agreement for further collaboration with Vrije University (VU) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Through the agreement, the Avera Institute for Human Genetics will be the genetics lab that will perform not only all of the genotyping for the Netherlands Twin Register, but also the genotyping for future genetics research in partnership with VU. Our two institutions will work together to advance research in genetics and genetic epidemiology. The team at the Avera Institute for Human Genetics has had multiple manuscripts published in both national and international journals, furthering their genetics research.