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Laura V. Milko, PhD

Assistant Professor, Genetics

Research Interests

Keywords: genomic sequencing newborn population screening precision public health clinical utility actionability stakeholder engagement equity accessibility

Laura V. Milko, Ph.D. is a public health geneticist, Assistant Professor in the Genetics Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Associate Director of the Program for Precision Medicine in Healthcare (PPMH) at the UNC School of Medicine. Her current research activities rely on evidence-based frameworks, community engagement, and mixed method approaches to work toward equitable clinical implementation of preventative population genetic screening.

Dr. Milko is MPI of the Age-Based Genomic Screening (ABGS) R01 project, which is funded by the NIH to develop and evaluate a novel clinical program and implementation strategies to include highly actionable genetic information into pediatric well-child health care. She is the Executive Director of the UNC ClinGen U24 grant led by Jonathan Berg, and a member and co-chair of several ClinGen Working Groups, including the ClinGen Steering Committee. She is a co-Investigator on other NIH-supported research projects researching the implementation and dissemination of population genetic screening at UNC. She is also a Steering Committee member of the Newborn Screening Translational Research Network (NBSTRN) and a member of the NBSTRN Researcher Needs and Pilot Research and Implementation Workgroups and the CDC National Family Health History Working Group.

She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Howard University in Washington, DC in 2000 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of New Orleans in 2007. Her subsequent postdoctoral fellowship in molecular ecology in Nick Haddad’s lab at North Carolina State University from 2007 to 2009 spurred her interest in human molecular genetics and, eventually, an enduring fascination with applied and translational genetics and genomics.

Mentor Training:

  • BRIDGES Academic Leadership for Women
  • Racial Equity Institute (REI): Phase I Training
  • UNC Office of Graduate Education Trained Mentor

OGE Trained Mentor

Publications

Laura Milko in UNC Genetics News

Laura Milko 2023