Our Science – Buetow Website

Kenneth H. Buetow, Ph.D.

Laboratory of Population Genetics Laboratory Chief Suite 6000 2115 E. Jefferson Street Rockville, MD 20892 Phone:   301-435-1520 Fax:   301-435-8963 E-Mail:   buetowke@mail.nih.gov

Biography

Kenneth H. Buetow's multi-disciplinary scientific career has focused for
more than 20 years on understanding the role of genetics in complex
human diseases such as cancer, and on applying sophisticated informatics
technologies to solve major biomedical challenges. In his current role
of National Cancer Institute Associate Director responsible for
Bioinformatics and Information Technology, he initiated and oversees the
caBIG(r) (cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid) program, a groundbreaking
initiative built to connect the entire cancer community in a "World Wide
Web" of biomedical research. caBIG(r) has pioneered the infrastructure
and a portfolio of tools that enable organizations and individual
researchers to securely share biomedical data, and its capabilities
serve as a demonstration of the connectivity required for Personalized
Medicine.



Dr. Buetow also serves as the Director of the NCI Center for
Bioinformatics and Information Technology (NCI CBIIT), which is
responsible for maximizing the interoperability and integration of NCI
research. He is also the Chief of the Laboratory of Population Genetics
(LPG), where his group applies genomics to increase our understanding of
the genetics of complex phenotypes. In addition to serving on the
governing and advisory boards for numerous government organizations,
academic institutions, and scientific and medical societies, Dr. Buetow
has published more than 160 scientific papers. His recent honors and
awards include The Editor's Choice Award from Bio-IT World (2008), The
Federal 100 Award (2005), The NIH Award of Merit (2004) and the NCI
Director's Gold Star Award (2004). Dr. Buetow received a B.A. in biology
from Indiana University in 1980 and a Ph.D. in human genetics from the
University of Pittsburgh in 1985.

Research

The Genetic Basis of Complex Disease: An Integrated Genomic and Bioinformatic Approach to Understanding the Cancer Phenotype

The Laboratory of Population Genetics (LPG) conducts human genetic and genomics research, both at the bench and using informatics tool. The major goal of this research program is to apply and extend human genetic analysis methods and resources to better understand the genetics of complex phenotypes, specifically human cancer. The program focuses on both the development of the resources and methods necessary to achieve these goals as well as the application of the methods in characterizing the molecular genetic epidemiology of disease.

Dr. Buetow has spearheaded efforts of the Genetic Annotation Initiative (GAI), an attempt to identify variant forms of the cancer genes identified through the NCI Cancer Genome Anatomy Project (CGAP). His laboratory is particularly interested in genetic variations that make individuals more susceptible to liver, lung, prostate, breast, and ovarian cancer. His group combines computational tools with bench-top laboratory findings to understand how genes and environment interact to increase cancer risk.

As director of the NCI Center for Bioinformatics (NCICB), Dr. Buetow coordinates and deploys informatics in support of NCI research initiatives. The goal of the NCICB is to maximize interoperability and integration of NCI research and its related information. The center participates in the evaluation and prioritization of the NCI's bioinformatics research portfolio, conducts or facilitates research that is required to address the NCICB's mission, serves as the locus for strategic planning to address the NCI's expanding research initiatives informatics needs, establishes information technology standards (both within and outside of NCI), and communicates, coordinates, or establishes information exchange standards.

Collaborators on this research include Carmen Allegra, Stephen Chanock, Lynette Grouse, Katherine McGlynn, Stephen Sherry, Robert Strausberg, and Shelia Zahm, NIH; Charles Cantor, Hubert Koester, Daniel Little, and Richard MacDonald, Sequenom, Inc.; Paul Engstrom, Warren Kruger, W. Thomas London, and Joseph Testa, Fox Chase Cancer Center; and Fu-Min Shen, First Shanghai Medical University.

This page was last updated on 3/4/2009.