Dietrich Matern, M.D., Ph.D., Elected to American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics Board

By Molly Dee • April 12, 2019

Share this:

Dietrich Matern, M.D., Ph.D., Division Chair of Laboratory Genetics in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology in Rochester, Minnesota, has been appointed as a new director on the board of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG).

Dr. Matern is one of six newly-elected directors and will serve a six year term from April 2019—March 2026.

As written on the P&T Community website:

Dr. Matern is currently chair of the Division of Laboratory Genetics and Genomics in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He holds a primary appointment in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, with joint appointments in the Department of Clinical Genomics and the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. He is a professor of laboratory medicine and pathology, medical genetics, and pediatrics. Dr. Matern has a primary interest in the biochemical diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism. His research activities involve the development and improvement of laboratory assays for the effective and efficient screening, diagnosis and follow-up of patients with inborn metabolic diseases. Dr. Matern's research has been funded by the NICHD, ACMG's Newborn Screening Translational Research Network (NBSTRN), industry and not-for-profit organizations. His focus in recent years has been on newborn screening for lysosomal storage disorders. Dr. Matern has authored or co-authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and reviews and 20 textbook chapters, and has given more than 80 invited presentations at national and international meetings and institutions.

Dr. Matern has a long record of service to ACMG. He has been a member of ACMG's ACT Sheet and Confirmatory Algorithms Workgroup since 2005 and co-chair since 2016. From 2007-2012, he served on ACMG's Laboratory Quality Assurance Committee and, in 2012, served on ACMG's Nominations Committee. He is board certified in pediatrics in Germany, certified by the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) in clinical biochemical genetics, and registered as a European Clinical Laboratory Geneticist by the European Board of Medical Genetics (EBMG). Since 2001 he has been an active member of the Minnesota State Advisory Committee on Heritable and Congenital Disorders, and from 2011-2018 was a voting member of the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (ACHDNC) to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He also served as a board member of the Society for Inherited Metabolic Disorders (SIMD) from 2008-2015 and faculty of SIMD's North American Metabolic Academy (NAMA) from 2007-2011.

Dr. Matern received his MD and PhD degrees from Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich and completed a pediatric residency at the Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany. Funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), he spent three months as a visiting scholar in the Biochemical Genetics Laboratory at Duke University before he started fellowship training in clinical genetics and clinical biochemical genetics, also at Duke. In late 1999, during his third year of fellowship training, Dr. Matern moved to the Mayo Clinic where he completed his training and became co-director of the newly created Biochemical Genetics Laboratory.

Upon being elected, Dr. Matern said, "I'm deeply honored for having been elected by my peers to serve on the ACMG board. I look forward to working with the board to address the many and sometimes challenging opportunities for genetics and genomics, and hope to hear particularly from ACMG's Biochemical Geneticists to ensure I represent our subdiscipline effectively and fairly."

About the ACMG
ACMG was founded in 1991 and is the only nationally recognized medical society dedicated to improving health through the clinical practice of medical genetics and genomics. To learn more, visit ACMG.net

Molly Dee

Molly Larsen is the Web Content Coordinator at Mayo ClinicLaboratories. She is responsible for internal and external communications pertaining to the website and information technology, as well as editing content on MayoClinicLabs.com. She has worked at Mayo Clinic since 2015. Outside of work, Molly enjoys working out, reading, Harry Potter trivia, and spending time with her family and friends, including Seamus, the labrador/mastiff puppy.