Jimmy Cheng-Ho Lin, MD, PhD, MHS is the Founder/President of Rare Genomics Institute, helping patients with rare diseases design, source, and fund personalized genomics projects. He is also on the faculty in the Pathology and Genetics Departments at the Washington University in St. Louis, as part of the Genomics and Pathology Services. Prior to this, he completed his training with Bert Vogelstein and Victor Veculescu at Johns Hopkins and Mark Gerstein at Yale, and led the computational analysis of some of the first exome sequencing projects in any disease, including breast, colorectal, glioblastoma, and pancreatic cancers.

At Rare Genomics Institute (RGI), we have a dream: that one day any parent or community can help access and fund the latest technology for their child with any disease. While nonprofits and foundations exist for many diseases, the vast majority of the 7,000 rare diseases do not have the scientific and philanthropic infrastructure to help. Many parents fight heroically on behalf of their children, and some of them have even become the driving force for research. At RGI, we are inspired by such parents and feel that if we can help provide the right tools and partnerships, extraordinary things can be achieved.

We start by helping parents connect with the right researchers and clinicians. Then, we provide mechanisms for them to fundraise. Finally, we try to guide them through the science that hopefully result in a better life for their child or for future children. Throughout the whole process, we try to educate, support, and walk alongside families undergoing this long journey.

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