12 Clinical OMICs July/August 2017 www.clinicalomics.com
In the Clinic
A Conversation with
Heidi Rehm
Heidi Rehm, Ph.D., is a leader in translational
medicine, having spearheaded the creation of
the Laboratory for Molecular Medicine at Har-
vard-Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics
in 2002 (now Partners Healthcare Personalized
Medicine) and via her work at the Broad Insti-
tute involving both rare disease gene discov-
ery, medical and population genetics, and
the clinical research sequencing platform.
Her work with Partners and the Broad only
begin to tell the story of her impact on
the clinical use of genomic information,
however. Among other projects, she also
has leading roles with public resources
such as the human variation-phenotype
database ClinVar; the Clinical Genome
Resource (ClinGen), an initiative to
build genomic knowledgebases to
support genomic medicine, score and
curate claimed gene-disease associa-
tions; and Matchmaker Exchange, a
global genotype and phenotype data
sharing network aimed at improv-
ing the diagnosis of rare diseases.
With so much on her plate, Dr. Rehm
is constantly on the move, but was
able to share a few moments while
in transit from the airport home to
speak with Clinical OMICs Editor in Chief
Chris Anderson.