Wayne W. Grody, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Grody is a professor in the Departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics and Human Genetics, and the institute for Society and Genetics, at the UCLA School of Medicine.
He is the director of the Molecular Diagnostic Laboratories and the Clinical Genomics Center within the UCLA Medical Center, one of the first such facilities in the country to offer DNA-based tests for diagnosis of a wide variety of genetic, infectious, and neoplastic diseases, as well as bone marrow engraftment, patient specimen identification and paternity testing by DNA fingerprinting, and clinical genomic DNA sequencing for undiagnosed disorders.
Dr. Grody is also an attending physician in the Department of Pediatrics, specializing in the care of patients with or at risk for genetic disorders (with a special interest in familial Mediterranean fever, among others), and director of the UCLA Intercampus Medical Genetics Training Program.
In addition, he is heavily involved in basic genetics research involving regulation of gene expression of arginase and related enzymes in herreditary arginase deficiency and various cancers, population molecular genetic screening, and construction of artificial human mutation samples.
Clinical Guideline Development
He has been one of the primary developers of quality assurance and ethical guidelines for DNA-based genetic testing for a large number of governmental and professional agencies including the FDA, AMA, CAP, ACMG, ASHG, NCCLS/CLSI, CDC, AMP VA, ACGME, and the NIH-DOE Human Genome Project (ELSI program).
Past and Current Appointments
Dr. Grody is the Past President of the American College of Medical Genetics.
He also served
For five years as founding chair of the Advisory Committee on Genomic Medicine for the entire VA healthcare system.
As a member of the NIH-DOE Task Force on Genetic Testing
As the working group chair for development of national guidelines for cystic fibrosis and factor V-Leiden mutation screening.
Recent Awards
Lifetime Achievement Award from the College of American Pathologists
Ward Burdick Award for Distinguished Services from the American Society of Clinical Pathology
Bowes Award Lectureship at Harvard Medical School
Roscher Endowed Lectureship of the International College of Surgeons
Leadership Award from the Association for Molecular Pathology
Golden Apple Teaching Award from the UCLA Inter-Campus Medical Genetics Training Program
In 2018, he was also elected to be a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Personal Interest
As a sidelight, Dr. Grody has been active in the film and television industries for many years, first as film critic for MD Magazine, a national leisure journal for physicians, then as technical advisor and sometime writer for a number of feature films, TV movies, and television series including Life Goes On, Chicago Hope, CSI, Medium, Law and Order, Heroes, and both Nutty Professor movies.
Education
Dr. Grody did his undergraduate work at Johns Hopkins University, received his M.D. and Ph.D. at Baylor College of Medicine, and completed residency and fellowship training at UCLA. He is double-board-certified by the American Board of Pathology (Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, molecular Genetic Pathology) and the American Board of Medical Genetics (Clinical Genetics, Molecular Genetics, Biochemical Genetics).