Melinda R. Dwinell

Melinda R. Dwinell is a Professor and Eminent Scholar in the Department of Physiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), serving as Associate Director of Education for the Linda T. and John A. Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine. She holds affiliations with the Rat Research Models Service Center and the PhysGen Program for Genomic Applications.

Her education includes a BS in Biology/Psychology from the University of Michigan (1990), followed by MS/PhD in Veterinary Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1996). She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California-San Diego (1996–2001).

Dr. Dwinell's research focuses on integrating genomic and phenotypic data to understand genetic contributions to cardiovascular, renal, and pulmonary diseases. She leads initiatives like the PhysGen Program, developing consomic rat strains and knockout models to study disease mechanisms. Key areas include:

• Genomic data integration using standardized ontologies
• Rat model development for asthma and pulmonary hypertension
• Phenotypic database curation (e.g., Rat Genome Database)
• Genome assembly improvements (e.g., GRCr8)

Her recent publications emphasize computational genomics, novel genome assemblies, and the application of hybrid rat models to study complex traits. Her work bridges bioinformatics, physiology, and genetics to advance precision medicine insights.

Labs/Teams: Rat Research Models Service Center, PhysGen Program, Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences.