Land of Information Lecture Series: The Icelandic Genome at the Katonah Museum of Art

Using Iceland’s uniquely comprehensive genealogical records, deCODE Genetics created a genealogy database covering the entire Icelandic population, back to the founding of the country more than 1,000 years ago. DeCODE Genetics Founding Director and physician Kári Stefánsson tells the story.
Kári Stefánsson, M.D., Dr. Med. founded deCODE in August 1996. Dr. Stefánsson was previously a professor of Neurology, Neuropathology and Neuroscience at Harvard University and Director of Neuropathology at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Stefansson has shaped deCODE’s scientific approach and been actively engaged in leading its gene discovery work, serving as senior author on most of the company’s publications in major scientific journals.