The Board of Trustees approved plans to create a genetics department at the Dartmouth Medical School during their quarterly meeting last weekend, the College announced yesterday.
The Trustees have been discussing the possibility of adding a genetics department to the medical school since July 1998 and approved the new department last weekend without debate.
"[Genetics] is a terribly important part of biomedical research," College President James Wright said. "It's a very exciting opportunity."
The new genetics department, which will take at least two or three years to establish, will not only expand research opportunities for undergraduate students but will also provide undergraduates the chance to take mid-level courses in biology at the Medical School, according to DMS Dean John Baldwin.
Currently, the school is recruiting a department chair and hopes to conclude the search by next fall.
"Genetics is something that is so important in medicine overall, we can't ignore it," Baldwin said. "It's an important step for the medical school to take."
In a statement, College President James Wright said the new department exemplifies the College's commitment to interdisciplinary studies, teaching and research.
The funding for the new department will come from a reallocation of resources at the Medical School, Wright said.
The approval of the new genetics department is the second significant decision made during the Trustee weekend since Saturday's announcement of the creation of the steering committee on social and residential life.