About - Introduction
IGS Pioneers Genomic Science and Innovates Biomedical Technologies to Improve Health
As part of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) since 2007, Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) researchers have contributed significantly to scientific discovery, scholarship, and history.
IGS Director Elana J. Fertig, PhD, FAIMBE, leads our team of 33 faculty members and seven affiliate faculty, whose research ranges from basic evolutionary science and computational biology to human health across the lifespan. Our work spans scientific disciplines, advancing genomics to gain knowledge of the molecular foundation of human health and biology. We advance cutting-edge genomics, multiomics, and spatial molecular technologies to better understand health, discover ways to prevent disease, and to develop new treatments. In addition, our researchers combine pioneering computational and systems biology approaches with high-throughput sequencing to empower discovery.
We aim to develop and apply genomics technologies to create a healthier Maryland and world. Our research spans multiple areas including cancer and precision medicine; parasitic, fungal, and bacterial diseases; sexual and reproductive health; the underpinnings of aging; and neuroscience areas including brain development, addiction, and mental health.
To recognize the extensive expertise in microbial genomics and the microbiome, IGS launched the Center for Advanced Microbiome Research and Innovation (CAMRI) in 2025 to serve as a hub for pioneering microbiome studies. CAMRI’s mission is to advance microbiome science to drive transformative discoveries and improve health outcomes. By bridging fundamental research with translational applications, CAMRI serves as a hub for pioneering microbiome studies, with current strengths in women’s and infant health, as well as the development of novel therapeutics. CAMRI also works closely with the IGS core facilities, Maryland Genomics and the Genome Informatics Core (GIC), to harness cutting-edge technology and integrate sequencing, advanced computational tools, bioinformatics, and epidemiological approaches to understand complex microbiome data.
Through Maryland Genomics, IGS remains at the forefront of high-throughput genomic technologies and bioinformatics analyses. Maryland Genomics provides research scientists cutting-edge, collaborative, and cost-effective sequencing and analysis—all customizable to each project's needs. Maryland Genomics develops methodologies and best-in-class pipelines to quickly navigate the rapidly advancing fields of multiomic, genomic, and computational technologies. In addition to serving IGS faculty, Maryland Genomics offers its global clients a wide range of services, including high-throughput short-read and long-read sequencing; microbiome, metagenome, and metatranscriptome data generation and analysis; single-cell and spatial multiomics; and bioinformatics analysis using a wide array of tools, including artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and machine learning.
The Genome Informatics Core, working in tandem with Maryland Genomics, provides custom bioinformatics services to researchers on campus and beyond. The GIC staff have also built a set of robust data management and visualization tools that are used to democratize bioinformatics and clinical inormatics analysis and visualization to researchers within IGS and across the campus.
An additional important area of our work is focused on training and outreach. IGS offers multiple professional development workshops each year on various bioinformatics topics such as microbiome and transcriptome analysis. In addition, IGS has a robust summer internship program and provides various K-12 STEM outreach events.
Our History
Although IGS was established at the University of Maryland Baltimore campus in 2007, we trace the origins of what would become IGS back to 1992. That year, IGS Founding Director, Claire Fraser, PhD, took a leadership position at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in Rockville, Maryland.
While at TIGR, Dr. Fraser and her colleagues completed the sequencing of the first genome of a free-living organism, Haemophilus influenzae, which is known to cause respiratory tract infections and meningitis in young children. This groundbreaking work launched the new field of microbial genomics. Furthermore, that team made significant contributions to the sequencing of the first human genome, which was announced in 2003. In 2001, researchers from TIGR helped the FBI in pinpointing the source of the Anthrax Letter Attacks by identifying mutations that indicated the laboratory where the anthrax had originated.
In 2007, Dr. Fraser moved 60 staff members and 15 senior scientists to UMSOM and launched IGS, marking the beginning of a new chapter. And, as they say: The rest is history.