HudsonAlpha Virtual Explore: Genetic Counseling

The HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology has a four-fold mission of conducting genomics-based research to improve human health and well being; implementing genomic medicine, sparking entrepreneurship and economic development; and providing educational outreach to nurture the next generation of biotech researchers and entrepreneurs, as well as to create a biotech literate public.

HudsonAlpha is the brainchild of founders James R. Hudson, Jr. and the late Lonnie S. McMillian, who passed away in 2018. Both men enjoyed career paths that led them to understand the promise of genomics and both possessed the drive to translate that promise into measurable, real world results. The announcement of the creation of the nonprofit Institute came in 2005, and the doors opened in 2008. Lonnie McMillian’s incredible generosity, along with the State of Alabama, provided the funding needed to make the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology a reality.

Drawing on their experience and envisioning a course for the future, Hudson and McMillian recognized that four ingredients are essential for improving human health and well-being: education, research-driven discovery, clinical care, and entrepreneurship. HudsonAlpha unites these four endeavors into a single enterprise. Since the Institute’s 2008 opening, HudsonAlpha has generated major discoveries that impact disease diagnosis and treatment, created intellectual property, created a clinical genomic health program, fostered biotechnology companies, and expanded the number of biosciences-literate people, many of whom will be the future workforce.