August 4, 2025
Graduate certificate also to be offered starting Fall 2026
Starting Fall 2026, St. Mary’s University will be offering a new graduate degree and certificate in Medical Genomics, allowing students to pursue a course of study not currently offered locally, and one of only nine institutions internationally to award a master’s in the field of study.
The Master of Science in Medical Genomics and Graduate Certificate in Medical Genomics, pending SACSCOC approval, will help prepare students or career professionals looking to grow in their health care fields. The 30-hour graduate degree and 13-hour certificate will be completely online and asynchronous.
The graduate-level courses will prepare students for the rapidly growing field of medical genomics — the study of the human genome, and how it influences health, disease and treatment.
The course differs from the study of genetics, as genetics focuses on how single genes are inherited, while medical genomics looks at all genes together, also known as the genome.
“Medical genomics is the future of health care,” said Lori Boies, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences. “We are seeing hospital systems start to embrace genomic medicine and provide a way to potentially deliver care to different individuals in a way that’s more beneficial to those individuals.”
As a genetic fingerprint, the genome in people is slightly different even among families, making treatments and resistance to medical treatment different. Through the study of medical genomics, health care professionals can discover more direct and individualized treatments.
The program will include courses such as biostatistics, bioethics, mechanisms of disease and epigenomics.
As one of only nine institutions internationally to offer the degree — which positions St. Mary’s in company with Johns Hopkins University, Saint Joseph’s University and the University of Oxford — offering the degree will allow St. Mary’s students the opportunity to get a jump start in the emerging field.
The area of working in genomics is expected to grow 19.4% between 2023 and 2032, according to Precedence Research, and precision medicine is likely to expand in San Antonio. The graduate degree and certificate can be used to further careers for biologists, geneticists, clinical data managers or clinical research coordinators.
“The field is going to change a lot in the next 10 years, and we are at the forefront of that,” Boies said.
The announcement of the new graduate degree and certificate comes at a time when St. Mary’s University continues to look at new ways to offer students a career in health care.
Starting in Fall 2025, the new Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program will begin teaching its first cohort, which is housed in the University’s newest building, the Blank Sheppard Innovation Center.
Additional degrees focusing on health care at St. Mary’s include a Bachelor of Science in Public Health with four different concentrations, a Bachelor of Arts in Medical Humanities and a minor in Medical Humanities also launching Fall 2025, and two new tracks in the Exercise and Sport Science Program.
“The new Master of Science in Medical Genomics will be useful for both those in biomedical research and industry and those wanting to go into one of those fields,” said Thomas “Ted” Macrini, Ph.D., Interim Dean of the School of Science, Engineering and Technology and Professor of Biological Sciences. “The merging of genetics and bioinformatics provided by this new online degree will provide students with a broader, more comprehensive background in the emerging field of personalized health care.”