A Newsletter for Friends and Alumni of the University of Washington
Cover: Dedication to Excellence

With the opening of the William H. Foege Building this spring, researchers in the Departments of Genome Sciences and Bioengineering will have more room to make discoveries that will improve lives.

Both departments are leaders in their respective disciplines — three of the eight architects of the Human Genome Project call the UW and the Department of Genome Sciences home, and Bioengineering’s researchers hold 170 patents and are considered leaders in applying technology in ways that benefit people. The new space will help these departments continue their tradition of excellence.

“The Foege Building will provide unparalleled opportunities for both faculty and students and aid in recruiting more top researchers in these fields,” says UW President Mark Emmert. “Along with our burgeoning biomedical research efforts at South Lake Union, the new building positions the UW and Seattle as world leaders in biotechnology.”

Construction of the 265,000-square-foot building, located on the Seattle campus, began in 2003 with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Whitaker Foundation, David C. Auth, Washington Research Foundation, and other private sources, as well as government funding. It is named in honor of UW School of Medicine alumnus William H. Foege (‘61), senior fellow at the Gates Foundation and former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, whose “surveillance and containment” strategy led to the eradication of smallpox in the 1970s. The University is recognizing Foege’s legacy and the boundless possibilities in the fields of bioengineering and genome sciences.

With the human genome mapped, researchers in Genome Sciences are now decoding individual genetic variations and discovering ways to use the information to prevent and treat disease. “The building represents a strong commitment on the part of the University to this discipline, and that’s important for the people here,” says Robert H. Waterston, professor and chair of the Department of Genome Sciences, the William Gates III Endowed Chair in Biomedical Sciences, and a key architect of the Human Genome Project.

The UW Department of Bioengineering, jointly administered by the College of Engineering and UW Medicine, also sees the new building as an opportunity to expand upon its groundbreaking work and provide better opportunities for more students. The department focuses on developing medical technologies such as medical ultrasound and engineered tissues. “Our purpose is to develop new technology through research, not only for academic purposes, but to benefit people,” says Yongmin Kim, professor and chair of the Department of Bioengineering, the Hunter and Dorothy Simpson Endowed Chair in Bioengineering, and a leader in medical image computing and other technologies.

Kim and Waterston expect that the building will lead to collaboration not only within their own areas of expertise, but also between them. Researchers from the two departments have been meeting monthly to learn more about each other. “I think it’s going to be interesting and very stimulating to have Bioengineering next door,” Waterston says.

For more on Genome Science, visit www.gs.washington.edu.
For more on Bionengineering, visit www.washington.edu/bioe.

Departments Tackle Global Health Problems

Inside their new home in the William H. Foege Building, scientists in the Departments of Bioengineering and Genome Sciences will continue their critical work of developing solutions to some of the world’s health challenges.

Bioengineering Vice Chair Paul Yager, holder of the Robert F. Rushmer Professorship, is working on a portable system to help health care workers in developing countries quickly diagnose diseases such as malaria. The department has been testing components for a decade, says Yager, principal investigator on a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges in Global Health grant. “Now we’re able to integrate them into complete systems that can be used in point-of-care medical testing. This is our opportunity to translate that work into things of immediate value to patients.”

The work of Mark Rieder, a research assistant professor in the Department of Genome Sciences, and Allan E. Rettie, a School of Pharmacy colleague, shows how a better understanding of the human genome can lead to better medicine. Their research found that genetic variations may directly affect a patient’s response to warfarin, a medication used to prevent blood clotting. “Eventually, we hope that genetic testing will allow physicians to adjust the warfarin dose more accurately and reduce costs associated with this treatment,” Rieder says.

Return to Spring 2006 Campaign Newsletter