Completed Genetics & Molecular Biology Cells, Biochemistry & Physiology

Human Genetics and Disease Biology: Core Renewal for the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics

Funder Wellcome Charity-funded
Recipient organisation University of Oxford
Funding £15.2M
Period Dec 2016 — Dec 2021

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics is a 400-person research hub that decodes how our DNA drives disease. The centre’s scientists use human genetics to uncover the biological mechanisms behind illnesses—from common conditions like diabetes to rare genetic disorders. Over the past two decades, the centre has helped fuel the “genetic revolution,” identifying thousands of DNA variants linked to specific traits. But a major gap remains: knowing which variant is associated with a disease does not automatically reveal which gene causes it, or how. This core renewal grant keeps the centre running so it can close that gap. The centre’s seven core teams provide shared expertise in sequencing, computing, and functional analysis that individual labs could not afford alone. If successful, the centre will help translate genetic discoveries into real clinical tools—for example, using a patient’s genome sequence to guide diagnosis or treatment. The work is largely fundamental science: understanding how genes control biology. But past fundamental genetics research has already led to breakthroughs in cancer therapies and rare-disease diagnostics, and this centre aims to continue that trajectory.

View original technical description
Human genetics provides a unique and powerful tool for understanding normal biology, disease pathophysiology, and infectious mechanisms. The “genetic revolution” of the last decade has witnessed an explosion in knowledge of associated variants for individual traits. Looking forward, large population resources will facilitate a new paradigm, going from variants (individually or collectively) to multiple phenotypes, and new functional tools will help unlock causal genes and mechanisms. In parallel, genome sequencing will become routine in parts of clinical medicine. The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics (WTCHG), a large interdisciplinary research centre comprising 400 scientists in ~45 research groups, is one of the leading institutes, globally, in human genetics. Since its founding 21 years ago, the WTCHG has played a pioneering role in the progress and success of human disease genetics and mechanism research. Our focus is the development and implementation of novel approaches to exploit human genetics and uncover disease biology so as to improve healthcare. Critical to the Centre’s success is its lively environment which fosters collaborations between research groups across disciplinary boundaries, with research supported by seven Core teams. This application seeks core support to enable the WTCHG to continue its leading role in the field.

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Researchers

Peter Donnelly (EPMC Awardee)

Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

PhD Programme at Wellcome Trust Cenre for Human Genetics.
Inference and Applications of Genetic Relatedness in Human Populations
Building a platform for genetic inference from the Genomics England data
Core Funding for the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology
Core support for the Wellcome Trust Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute.

Original classification

Wellcome Trust Centre

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