Matthew Taylor MD is the newest faculty member to join the Department of Medicine's innovative Adult Medical Genetics Program (AMGP) at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCD).  Conceived in 1998, the AMGP was developed in recognition of the expanding knowledge, interest, and relevance of genetics to the discipline of internal medicine.  The AMGP also has close ties with the Human Medical Genetics Program, at UCD.  Dr. Taylor, formally trained in both internal medicine and clinical genetics, represents of a new generation of internists who are particularly suited to attend to the challenges posed by genetic medicine.  As Director of Adult Clinical Genetics, his principle clinical effort is to develop an adult genetics clinic and consultative service, specializing in the diagnostic evaluation, management, and genetic counseling of adults with known or suspected genetic conditions.  Dr. Taylor's clinical team, which includes two genetic counselors specialized in adult genetic conditions, represent a unique resource for the Colorado community. 

      As clinical genetics continues to enter the medical mainstream, both general internists and subspecialists are expected to increasingly incorporate genetics services into the management of their patients.  Complementing the efforts of the Hereditary Cancer Clinic (Division of Oncology: Catherine Klein MD and Dennis Ahnen MD) and the Cardiovascular Genetics Clinic (AMGP: Dr. Taylor and Luisa Mestroni MD), the Department of Medicine's resources for addressing all aspects of adult genetic medicine will be comprehensive. 

Beyond his clinical roles, Dr. Taylor is involved in a number of research projects related to adult genetic conditions, including genetic studies of inherited cardiomyopathies, polycystic kidney disease (PKD), and lysosomal storage diseases.  The cardiomyopathy and PKD research focuses on the molecular genetics of these two disorders and calls upon the services of the state-of-the-art UCD Genotyping, Linkage Analysis and Mutation Screening Core (Directed by Pam Fain PhD).  As genetic principles have not traditionally featured prominently in internal medicine training, Dr. Taylor will also serve as a resource for the education of Housestaff and faculty physicians about genetics.  The newly created AMGP Monthly Update in Genetics (or "AMGP MUG") is an electronic newsletter targeted at the Medicine Housestaff physicians, providing them with regular exposure to clinical genetic principles.