January 22, 2025
LAS VEGAS – January 22, 2025 – In a continuing effort to bring essential medical specialties to the people of Nevada, Cure 4 The Kids Foundation (C4K) is proud to welcome Mark Eugene Nunes, MD, the state’s first full-time family geneticist.
As C4K’s Director of Genetics, Genomics, and Metabolism, Dr. Nunes will see families , children and adults with genetic disorders who previously were forced to travel out of state to access these highly individualized medical diagnostic and treatment services.
There are around 20,000 genes or instructions in every person determining how their body is made and functions. A problem with just one of these genes is sufficient to cause one of around 7,000 rare genetic or heritable disorders. Utilizing his decades of expertise, Dr. Nunes will assist in the recognition, evaluation, diagnosis, management, and treatment of these inherited disorders. Working closely with Genetic Counselors, Dr. Nunes helps families understand the implications of genetic test results, and the chance an inherited disorder may recur in a family. Geneticists provide resources for and teach families, their healthcare providers, and specialists about the implications of a rare disorder. As a Genomics specialist, Dr. Nunes can help guide how an individual’s genetic profile can influence their risk and management of rare and common health conditions and is already working with the Nevada Rare Disease Advisory Council to use genomics in public health.
“This is truly a game changer for our community,” said Annette Logan-Parker, Founder and Innovation and Advocacy Officer at Cure 4 The Kids Foundation. “The expanding field of genetics and genomics offers incredible insight for our medical staff and, ultimately, our pediatric and adult patients. Until now, these services were only available to Nevadans on a limited basis. With Dr. Nunes now part of C4K, this is a win for our current and future patients as well as for the State of Nevada.”
Dr. Nunes is board-certified in both Pediatrics and Clinical and Molecular Genetics. Most recently, he served as Director of Medical Genetics and Metabolism at Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera, California. His role included the supervision of State-sponsored prenatal genetic clinics and the creation of specialized multidisciplinary clinics focused on cardiogenetic and neurogenetic cases. Dr. Nunes helped successfully lobby the California Department of Public Health to expand non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for all pregnant women in California and helped pilot prenatal whole genome sequencing (WGS).
Before Valley Children’s Hospital, Dr. Nunes was Division Chief of Medical Genetics at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego and a partner physician at Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Dr. Nunes’ first genetics job out of training was as an active-duty Pediatrician and Clinical Geneticist in the Air Force, where he also directed the USAF Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory. He helped successfully petition the Surgeons General in cases of genetic discrimination in the military, which helped inform the Genetics Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of 2008.
Dr. Nunes brings a wealth of knowledge with more than two decades of experience in appointed academic roles specializing in Pediatrics and Genetics at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), Ohio State University, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Maryland, and the University of Washington.
As a thought leader in the field of Genetics and Genomics, Dr. Nunes has shared his research and experience in multiple peer-reviewed journals including Human Genetics, American Journal of Human Genetics and Human Molecular Genetics, and the National Library of Medicine sponsored website, GeneReviews.
Dr. Nunes earned his medical degree from the F. Edward Herbert School of Medicine at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Maryland and completed his internship and residency in Pediatrics at the David Grant US Air Force Medical Center. He completed fellowships in Clinical Genetics, Molecular (DNA Laboratory) Genetics, and Teratology at the University of Washington and Child Protection and Forensic Pediatrics at Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children in Virginia.
Dr. Nunes was born in England to a U.S. Air Force airman and base Librarian and raised in Hawaii and Northern California. Nunes and his wife have been married for 25 years and are raising four children.
