Precision Medicine Under the Microscope

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Posted By: Roberta Mullin April 17, 2019

We are on the beat to find and report just what is happening now in Precision Medicine. Look for this on going report each month as we find articles, commentary, interviews, and events of interest on Precision Medicine. Read more posts on Precision Medicine and follow the hashtag #PrecisionMedicine.

The US National Library of Medicine says “although the term ‘precision medicine’ is relatively new, the concept has been a part of healthcare for many years. For example, a person who needs a blood transfusion is not given blood from a randomly selected donor; instead, the donor’s blood type is matched to the recipient to reduce the risk of complications. Although examples can be found in several areas of medicine, the role of precision medicine in day-to-day healthcare is relatively limited. Researchers hope that this approach will expand to many areas of health and healthcare in coming years.”

What is the difference between precision medicine and personalized medicine? What about pharmacogenomics?
According to the NIH US National Libarary of Medicine, National Research Council, there is a lot of overlap between the terms. Learn more.

Precision Medicine in Action

ONC Science Initiatives and Seeking a Health Informatics Scientist

ONC (@ONC_HealthIT) is seeking a Health Scientist specializing in informatics to work in the ONC Immediate Office, Chief Scientist Division (CSD), through the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Mobility Program. The ONC CSD is responsible for developing and evaluating ONC’s overall scientific efforts and activities and, as necessary, develops, establishes, or recommends scientific policy to the National Coordinator. This individual will apply a comprehensive knowledge of health informatics, science, related fields, and relevant programs to the performance of his/her work. Read more and apply.

The Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI), launched in 2015, is a nationwide initiative to move away from the “one-size-fits-all” approach to health care delivery and to instead tailor treatment and prevention strategies to people’s unique characteristics, including environment, lifestyle, and biology. Read more.

Insight Monk to Recognize the Top 25 Voices in Precision Medicine

Insight Monk (@insightmonk), world’s only community of specialized experts on deep technologies is in the process of recognizing the Top 25 Voices in Precision Medicine, an elite compendium of thought leaders in the field of precision medicine. Insight Monk, a BIS Research platform plans to recognize the exemplary work of individuals in the field of precision medicine through its non-profit initiative, Top 25 Voices in Precision Medicine. The nomination-based elite compendium is expected to be released in April 2019.

Centene and Washington University Collaborate to Advance Personalized Medicine Research

Centene Corp. (@Centene) and Washington University School of Medicine (@WUSTLmed) in St. Louis announced a partnership to transform and accelerate research into treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, breast cancer, diabetes and obesity. All are common, debilitating and often deadly diseases that affect millions of people worldwide, at all levels of income. As part of the partnership, Centene will fund up to $100 million over 10 years in research at Washington University. The funding will galvanize the School of Medicine’s Personalized Medicine Initiative, which aims to develop customized disease treatment and prevention for patients.

To Read

HealthTech Magazine – How Precision Medicine Can Improve the Quality of Care – Precision medicine isn’t the future of healthcare; it’s here now. In the past few years: Science has rapidly advanced, enabling providers to use genomic information to arrive at accurate diagnoses sooner, and to determine the most effective care plans for individual patients faster. Pharmaceutical companies have developed new drugs and targeted molecular therapies based on these breakthroughs. Quality and safety experts have begun to advocate for using patient genomic profiles to individualize care. Consumer awareness of precision medicine has grown to where providers report that patients ask about it frequently.

Orion Health – How can precision medicine reduce the burden on health systems? – As hospitals around the world struggle with pressure on resources and a rising number of patients to care for, innovative solutions to prevent people ending up in hospital are becoming more and more crucial.

Events

All of Us Research Program

1st Annual Precision Medicine Symposium

Precision Medicine Initiative

The National Library of Medicine also tells us the “Precision Medicine Initiative is a long-term research endeavor, involving the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and multiple other research centers, which aims to understand how a person’s genetics, environment, and lifestyle can help determine the best approach to prevent or treat disease.” The Initiative has both short and long term goals.

Resources

The Journal of Precision Medicine (@JournPrecMed)
The world’s first print publication to discuss the many key global issues surrounding this rapidly evolving landscape. It does so by connecting both ends of the life science continuum – the compelling discoveries being realized in molecular research with the critical needs of the patient in the clinical setting.

The Personalized Medicine Coalition  (@permedcoalition)
PMC, representing innovators, scientists, patients, providers and payers, promotes the understanding and adoption of personalized medicine concepts, services and products to benefit patients and the health system.