NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The Jackson Laboratory announced today that it is trying to reach a collaborative clinical genomics research agreement with groups in Wenzhou, China.
The lab is aiming to partner with the Wenzhou Municipal People's Government, Ouhai District People's Government, and Wenzhou Medical University and its affiliated hospitals, in order to conduct research on genomic propensities for disease. The collaboration will also focus on the development of individualized therapies for cancer, heart disease, and other afflictions.
"The JAX-Wenzhou collaboration represents a significant milestone in advancing our mission to discover precise genomic solutions for disease, and empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health," Jackson Lab Chief Operating Officer Charles Hewett said in a statement.
The first phase of the collaboration will involve hiring 75 to 100 new employees in China — including principal investigators, and scientific and administrative staff — and initiating medical genomics research collaborations between the organizations. The second phase involves building designated labs in Wenzhou and hiring 300 to 500 more employees.
Further terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The JAX-Wenzhou collaboration will be complementary to Jackson Lab's sites in Maine, Connecticut, and California, the lab said.
A unique aspect of the collaboration is the scale of the capabilities in both Wenzhou and at Jackson, said Jackson Lab President and CEO Edison Liu. "With such scale and coordinated action, we can resolve some of the most complex questions in genomic medicine," he added.