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In Memoriam: Richard Maas

M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Dr. Maas was Professor of Medicine (Genetics) at Harvard Medical School, and former Chief of the Division of Genetics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a position he held for over 20 years.  His credentials included 30 years on the HMS faculty as a physician-scientist, tenure as an HHMI Investigator, election to the ASCI and as a Fellow of the AAAS, an NIH MERIT Award, and many other accomplishments.  Faculty of the BWH Division of Genetics include members of HHMI, NAS, and NAM, as well as past winners of the Gairdner, Lasker, and Breakthrough Prizes. Dr. Maas was also a PI of the BWH Biomedical Research Institute Director’s Transformative Award that provides institutional support to Brigham Genomic Medicine (BGM).  BGM is an integrated clinical and research program that enables BWH faculty from multiple BWH departments and divisions to diagnose genetic disorders and to discover new monogenic disease genes via WES/WGS.  He was also involved in and a prior PI of the External Scientific Advisory Group of an NIH U01 Consortium called FaceBase that employs WES/WGS to identify genes that cause craniofacial birth defects, Director of the Harvard Undiagnosed Disease Clinical Site (HUDN-CS) Genome Analysis Team.  In addition, he previously directed a large NIH U54 Interdisciplinary Research Consortium focused on systems biology approaches to organ regeneration.  His research focused on the developmental genetics of vertebrate organogenesis, on disease gene discovery, and on the clinical implementation of genomic medicine.

Dr. Maas earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Dartmouth College before matriculating in the Vanderbilt M.D., Ph.D. program. Dr. Maas then pursued his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and completed his postdoctoral training with Dr. Philip Leder in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. He joined the HMS faculty in the Division of Genetics at Brigham in 1989.

In Memoriam: Richard Maas

M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Dr. Maas was Professor of Medicine (Genetics) at Harvard Medical School, and former Chief of the Division of Genetics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a position he held for over 20 years.  His credentials included 30 years on the HMS faculty as a physician-scientist, tenure as an HHMI Investigator, election to the ASCI and as a Fellow of the AAAS, an NIH MERIT Award, and many other accomplishments.  Faculty of the BWH Division of Genetics include members of HHMI, NAS, and NAM, as well as past winners of the Gairdner, Lasker, and Breakthrough Prizes. Dr. Maas was also a PI of the BWH Biomedical Research Institute Director’s Transformative Award that provides institutional support to Brigham Genomic Medicine (BGM).  BGM is an integrated clinical and research program that enables BWH faculty from multiple BWH departments and divisions to diagnose genetic disorders and to discover new monogenic disease genes via WES/WGS.  He was also involved in and a prior PI of the External Scientific Advisory Group of an NIH U01 Consortium called FaceBase that employs WES/WGS to identify genes that cause craniofacial birth defects, Director of the Harvard Undiagnosed Disease Clinical Site (HUDN-CS) Genome Analysis Team.  In addition, he previously directed a large NIH U54 Interdisciplinary Research Consortium focused on systems biology approaches to organ regeneration.  His research focused on the developmental genetics of vertebrate organogenesis, on disease gene discovery, and on the clinical implementation of genomic medicine.

Dr. Maas earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Dartmouth College before matriculating in the Vanderbilt M.D., Ph.D. program. Dr. Maas then pursued his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and completed his postdoctoral training with Dr. Philip Leder in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. He joined the HMS faculty in the Division of Genetics at Brigham in 1989.

Recent Publications

Domain-associated phenotypic patterns with MACF1 variants

Published On 2026 Oct 27

Journal article

CONCLUSION: These results expand the phenotypic spectrum of MACF1-related disorders and provide preliminary evidence for domain-associated MACF1 variant effects. While limited by sample size and lack of functional validation, these findings should be considered hypothesis-generating and underscore the utility of HPO-based clustering for systematic phenotype comparison as additional cases emerge. Comprehensive genetic and phenotypic assessments are essential for understanding the role of MACF1 in...


Arriving at a diagnosis: Effective strategies used by the Undiagnosed Diseases Network

Published On 2026 Sep 10

Journal article

CONCLUSION: The UDN addresses challenging undiagnosed cases by integrating clinical expertise with research strategies that go beyond standard care. By employing these advanced approaches, the UDN resolves cases that remain unsolved in routine clinical settings, demonstrating the power of connecting research and clinical care.