Principal

Dr. Belmont is a physician-scientist with extensive experience in medical practice, academic research, and the biotechnology industry. His current positions are as Principal of Genetics & Genomics Services, Inc. and Professor (Adjunct), Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, and Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

Dr. Belmont was formerly Senior Principal Medical Scientist on the Medical Genomics Research team at Illumina, Inc. This company is a major manufacturer of instruments used for genome sequencing.  Within Illumina, Dr. Belmont consulted on diverse programs including studies of the clinical utility of genome analysis, software development to improve genome interpretation, and standards for clinical genome sequencing.  Dr. Belmont also has experience as an entrepreneur having co-founded Seqwright, Inc. with Dr. Richard Gibbs in 1994 and serving as VP until its sale in 2012.

Dr. Belmont is the author of more than 250 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and invited articles. Along with his daily consulting work, Dr. Belmont also continues to conduct research on birth defects, cardiovascular disorders, and infectious diseases as complex genetic traits. He has a particular interest in the genetic causes of congenital cardiovascular malformations and other inborn errors of development.  Dr. Belmont was an Assistant Investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (1987-1993) one of the most prestigious research organizations in the world. He achieved the rank of Professor (with tenure) in the Departments of Molecular and Human Genetics and Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. He was Principal Investigator on numerous NIH and foundation grants with sustained multi-grant funding over a 28 year period. He also taught a storied graduate course in Human Genetics in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). His commitment to graduate education is illustrated by his participation in over 100 thesis advisory committees. He has served on numerous research study sections most recently the NIH Genetics of Health and Disease and the Center for Inherited Disease Research review committees. He was a founder and Associate Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI) at BCM. Under his leadership, the CVRI developed an innovative genetic testing strategy for cardiovascular disorders which has since been incorporated into the Baylor HeartCare testing initiative.

In addition to his research, Dr. Belmont is a Pediatrician and Medical Geneticist. He had a 28-year practice at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas. He has a long-standing interest in the genetic causes of developmental and cardiovascular diseases. His clinical work includes evaluation of infants, children and adolescents with birth defects, intellectual disability, and cardiovascular disorders.  He was a co-founder in 1997 of the Cardiovascular Genetics Clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital and worked with some of the best Pediatric Cardiologists in the U.S. over an 18 year period.

Dr. Belmont grew up in San Antonio, Texas and received a B.A. degree from the University of Texas, Austin in 1974. He attended Baylor College of Medicine where he graduated with M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in 1981. After Pediatrics training at Children’s Hospital National Medical Center, Washington, D.C. he returned to Baylor for post-doctoral research in genetics. He joined the faculty of Baylor College of Medicine in 1987. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Medical Genetics. He is a member of the American Society of Human Genetics, American College of Medical Genetics, and an elected member of the Society for Pediatric Research, American Society for Clinical Investigation and Association of American Physicians.

John is an advocate for children’s health and biomedical research. A current focus of advocacy is Project Baby Dillo, an effort to introduce whole genome sequencing into Texas NICUs.