Guerin Children’s Appoints Two from Yale to Lead New Genetics, Early Detection Programs
Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s has appointed physician-scientists Mustafa Khokha, MD, and Saquib Lakhani, MD, to lead new genetics initiatives. Khokha will serve as director of the new Guerin Children’s Genetics Research Center, while Lakhani will be the director of the Guerin Children’s Early Detection Program. Both join from the Yale School of Medicine, where they co-led the Pediatric Genomics Discovery Program.
The new directors are tasked with developing a pediatric genome sequencing program to help identify genetic disorders earlier. They will collaborate with David Rowitch, MD, PhD, associate director of Research at Guerin Children’s, to establish a birth cohort study. The study will collect genetic sequencing data in children, with an initial goal of introducing informed consent genetic testing.
Prior to the move, Khokha was a professor of Pediatrics and Genetics at Yale, with his lab studying the developmental biology of congenital malformations. Lakhani was an associate professor of Pediatrics at Yale and clinical director of the discovery program, with his lab exploring the genetics of birth defects and neurodevelopmental disorders.