Precision Medicine Under the Microscope

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Posted By: Roberta Mullin May 15, 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

All of Us Research Program Launches Data Browser, Offering Preview of Landmark Health Database
NIH’s All of Us Research Program has announced the beta release of its interactive Data Browser to provide a first look at the data that participants are sharing for health research. Participants, researchers, and other members of the public may use the online tool to learn more about the All of Us participant community and explore summary data. Later, researchers will be able to request access to the data for use in a wide range of studies that may lead to more customized ways to prevent and treat disease.

Murfreesboro Medical Clinic and SurgiCenter Partners with 2bPrecise for Precision Medicine
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (@Allscripts) announced that Murfreesboro Medical Clinic and SurgiCenter (MMC) has selected 2bPrecise™ to support its precision medicine strategy, beginning with pharmacogenomics (PGx) at the point of care.

Caris Life Sciences Acquires Pharmatech
Caris Life Sciences® (@carisls), an innovator in molecular science focused on fulfilling the promise of precision medicine, announced that it has acquired Pharmatech, Inc., a pioneer of the original Just-In-Time research system with the largest research-ready oncology network. With this strategic acquisition, Caris is changing the paradigm from the traditional physician outreach model to a real-time approach where patient identification is completed at the lab and the physician is informed so that the patient can be enrolled days earlier, and remain in the local physician’s care, without having to travel to a large central trial site.

Listen

Check out this episode of Harlow On Healthcare as David Harlow, healthcare attorney and award-winning blogger talks with Dr. Dara Richardson-Heron, Chief Engagement Officer of the “All of Us” program at National Institutes of Health. This program at NIH wants to enroll at least 1 million individuals in a broad research effort involving collecting EHR data, a biobank of samples, genomic data, questionnaire responses, involving both traditional researchers and citizen researchers, and sharing results with study participants. It sounds like a 21st century Framingham Study.

To Read

MedPage Today
Recent Developments in Hemophilia: Personalized Therapy – With hemophilia — as with most areas of healthcare — we have entered an era where it’s possible to personalize treatment, so that physicians are treating the individual patient rather than the disease. As Valder Arruda, MD, of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), pointed out in an article in Blood that he co-wrote with colleagues from CHOP, new therapies for hemophilia A and B are continuing to change clinical practice.

Events

All of Us Research Program

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.