PGD Center Clinical Bios

Program Director

Dr. William G. Kearns
Director, The Center for Preimplantation Genetic

Dr. Kearns earned his doctorate at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. He completed his fellowship training in medical genetics at the renowned McKusick-Nathans Institute for Genetic Medicine of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Upon completion of his fellowship training, Dr. Kearns joined the faculty at Hopkins and established their first laboratory of molecular cytogenetics. At Hopkins, Dr. Kearns collaborated with other investigators in the development of experimental strategies to detect genetic abnormalities in single cells. He also played a significant role in the development of gene therapy protocols for diseases such as cystic fibrosis and adenosine deaminase deficiency. During the past six years, Dr. Kearns also devised research protocols to detect genetic abnormalities in sperm of infertile males and preimplantation embryos. Dr. Kearns's laboratory was the first to report a high frequency of aneuploid sperm in men with male factor infertility. Dr. Kearns is a member of the American Society of Human Genetics, the European Society of Human Genetics, the American Society of Reproductive Medicine and the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. Dr. Kearns has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals and has applied for and received grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and numerous other funding agencies.

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