Medical Advisory Board: Biochemical Genetics
Dr. Atwal is a board-certified clinical and medical biochemical geneticist and director of Atwal Clinic for Genomic & Personalized Medicine, a concierge genetics clinic. In addition, he serves as Medical Director & Vice President of Genetic Services at PWN Health, a virtual healthcare company. Previously he served as Medical Director for the Individualized Medicine Clinic at Mayo Clinic FL on the Jacksonville campus. He received his medical degree from the University of Glasgow, and initially trained in hospital internal medicine with The Royal College of Physicians at Glasgow Royal Infirmary in Scotland. He completed his genetics fellowship at Stanford University in Palo Alto CA and subspecialty biochemical genetics fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston TX where he was involved in developing a clinical metabolomic profiling test. He holds diplomas in structural molecular biology and forensic medical science and an MBA specializing in healthcare administration.
He has a long-standing interest in rare and undiagnosed disease including the use of multiple concurrent –omics platforms to provide a diagnosis to patients. He conducts translational, (from patient to laboratory to patient) research with the goal of discovering new genetic syndromes and designing new therapies for genetic disease.
Dr. Atwal’s clinical interests include clinical genomics, undiagnosed diseases following lengthy diagnostic odysseys and inborn errors of metabolism including mitochondrial diseases. Through his work, he co-led the discovery of biparental mitochondrial inheritance in humans, discovered two new genetic connective tissue syndromes that results from defects in the FLNA & AEBP1 genes, co-developed an untargeted metabolic screening test for inborn errors of metabolism, and published extensively on human genetics, with over 60 peer-reviewed publications to date.
Dr. Atwal’s awards include the 2014-2015 ACMG Foundation/Genzyme Fellowship in Biochemical Genetics Award and The Neurobiology of Disease in Children Young Investigator Award.