Our History
Although IGS was established at the University of Maryland Baltimore campus in 2007, we trace the origins of what would become IGS back to 1992. That year, IGS Founding Director, Claire Fraser, PhD, took a leadership position at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in Rockville, Maryland.
While at TIGR, Dr. Fraser and her colleagues completed the sequencing of the first genome of a free-living organism, Haemophilus influenzae, which is known to cause respiratory tract infections and meningitis in young children. This groundbreaking work launched the new field of microbial genomics. Furthermore, that team made significant contributions to the sequencing of the first human genome, which was announced in 2003. In 2001, researchers from TIGR helped the FBI in pinpointing the source of the Anthrax Letter Attacks by identifying mutations that indicated the laboratory where the anthrax had originated.
In 2007, Dr. Fraser moved 60 staff members and 15 senior scientists to UMSOM and launched IGS, marking the beginning of a new chapter.
And, as they say: The rest is history...
