UTA appoints Lal to lead precision health, informatics
Dennis Lal, an internationally recognized genomic scientist and health informatics leader, has been appointed as a professor with The University of Texas at Arlington and the new executive director of the Center for Innovation in Health Informatics (CIHI), where he will lead health care-scale informatics, precision health, and clinical AI initiatives.
Dr. Lal is an executive scientist in Cook Children’s Pediatric Precision Health Program. His appointment at UT Arlington is an example of ongoing research collaborations between the two institutions.
“We are at a moment where informatics, genomics, and clinical care can truly be integrated at scale,” said Lal, who most recently served as director of the Center for Neurogenetics at UTHealth Houston. “Working together, UTA and Cook Children’s have a unique opportunity to build an end-to-end precision health ecosystem that directly improves patient care while advancing discovery.”
Lal describes himself as an “unconventional” researcher focused on creative and innovative approaches to today’s increasingly data-driven research challenges. The goal of his research is to make a direct impact on patients’ lives and to end what is often called the “diagnostic odyssey,” when families spend years trying to receive an accurate genetic diagnosis.
Lal brings experience in advancing the understanding of brain disorders through genomic research and translating those discoveries into clinical care. He led the creation of nationally recognized specialty precision medicine clinics for rare genetic epilepsies and founded the first nationwide precision genetic counseling telemedicine program in this domain, expanding access to advanced genomic expertise regardless of geography.
Throughout his career, Lal has contributed to large-scale genomics research consortia and has served as a scientific advisor to several foundations supporting families affected by rare genetic epilepsies. His multidisciplinary research program integrates technological, computational, and data-driven approaches to improve understanding of epilepsy and related neurodevelopmental disorders.
Lal’s scientific contributions include identifying epilepsy-associated disease genes, characterizing epilepsy-related copy-number variants, studying somatic genetic variants in human brain tissue, and advancing research on polygenic risk. He and his team have also developed a range of computational tools and online resources that support the interpretation and clinical impact of genetic variants.
At CIHI, Lal will succeed Marion Ball, a pioneer in the field of health informatics who recently had an international award named in her honor: the Marion Ball Leadership Award presented by the International Medical Informatics Association. Dr. Ball is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
“CIHI has established a solid foundation at UTA by addressing how enabling technologies can meet health care needs in practice, research, and education,” said Ball, UTA’s Raj and Indra Nooyi Endowed Distinguished Chair in Bioengineering and a Presidential Distinguished Professor. “I look forward to seeing Dr. Lal take CIHI into new directions and continue to flourish under his leadership.”
Lal began his role on Jan. 26.
About The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)
The University of Texas at Arlington is a growing public research university in the heart of Dallas-Fort Worth. With a student body of over 42,700, UTA is the second-largest institution in the University of Texas System, offering more than 180 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Recognized as a Carnegie R-1 university, UTA stands among the nation’s top 5% of institutions for research activity. UTA and its 280,000 alumni generate an annual economic impact of $28.8 billion for the state. The University has received the Innovation and Economic Prosperity designation from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and has earned recognition for its focus on student access and success, considered key drivers to economic growth and social progress for North Texas and beyond.