The Center for Medical Genomics at Indiana University School of Medicine was founded in 2000 by Howard J. Edenberg, PhD, with initial support from the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund and additional funding from the Indiana Genomics Initiative (INGEN). Under Dr. Edenberg’s leadership, the center grew into a major genomics resource serving investigators at Indiana University and beyond.
In 2016, Yunlong Liu, PhD, professor of medical and molecular genetics, was appointed director. With significant investment from IU School of Medicine and support from the IU School of Medicine Precision Medicine program, the center expanded its sequencing capabilities with the addition of Illumina HiSeq 4000 and NextSeq 500 systems.
Beginning in 2018, the center continued to expand its technology portfolio to meet growing research demand, adding two Illumina NovaSeq 6000 systems, a MiSeqDx and three 10x Genomics Chromium systems. In 2024, the center further advanced its sequencing capabilities with the addition of NovaSeq X Plus and NextSeq 2000 platforms.
In 2026, Dr. Liu was appointed associate dean for translational resources, overseeing the operations and strategic direction of IU School of Medicine’s seven centralized research cores. As part of this leadership transition, Hongyu Gao, PhD, and Fang Fang, MD, PhD, were appointed co-directors of the Center for Medical Genomics.
Dr. Fang oversees laboratory operations and service delivery, while Dr. Gao leads data management, bioinformatics and computational support. Dr. Maks Luthra provides financial and business leadership, working closely with the co-directors to support the center’s operations, strategic priorities and continued growth.
Today, the Center for Medical Genomics combines advanced genomic technologies, bioinformatics expertise and comprehensive research support to serve investigators across IU School of Medicine, Indiana University and the broader research community.