University of Miami Miller School of Medicine: Assistant Professor, Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation, Department of Human Genetics and Department of Medicine and Acting Director, Center for Modeling of Human Diseases, John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics.
Katherina Walz, Ph.D., Acting Director for the Center for Models of Human Disease at the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, is a biologist interested in developing mouse models for human genetic conditions. Her research is focused in the validation of the genetic cause, the definition of the phenotypic outcomes and the elucidation of the molecular and physiological pathways involved in a certain disease. These mouse models someday might lead to reversibility of a genetic condition or disease or a pharmacological treatment.
Dr. Walz’s work is focused in syndromes related to gene Copy Number Variation, such as Smith-Magenis (SMS) and Potocki-Lupski (PTLS) Syndromes, and kidney diseases as Focal and Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). Walz is also an Assistant Professor in the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics.