APOLLO researchers uncover new target for ovarian cancer treatment

Scientists have identified a new target in ovarian cancer that is particularly vulnerable to chemotherapy. The discovery will allow researchers to better predict how this cancer will behave, particularly the most common and lethal, high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). Ovarian cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among women.

Precision medicine navigators increase genomic testing rates for Black patients with prostate cancer

The presence of a clinical navigator to act as a liaison between people with prostate cancer and the health care system greatly increases the likelihood that patients, especially Black patients, will receive advanced testing that can help predict the severity of their disease and guide treatment, a new study suggests.

CureMD Announces Strategic Collaboration with Tempus to Integrate Genomic Testing Functionality in EHR

CureMD, a leading provider of comprehensive technology solutions for community oncology, is proud to announce its partnership with Tempus, a leader in artificial intelligence and precision medicine, to integrate Tempus’ advanced genomic testing capabilities into CureMD’s cutting-edge Electronic Health Record (EHR) system.

Leading Physician-Scientist Dr. Bradley A. Maron Appointed Senior Associate Dean for Precision Medicine at UMSOM and Co-Director of new University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing (UM-IHC) at UMB

University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, announced today that Bradley A. Maron, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS), and Co-Director of the Pulmonary Vascular Disease Center at the VA Boston Healthcare System, has been appointed Co-Director of the UMB’s new Institute for Health Computing (UM-IHC), Director of Scientific Operations for the UM-IHC at UMSOM, as well as Senior Associate Dean for Precision Medicine at the UMSOM, effective May 1, 2023.

IU neuroscientists lead new study laying groundwork for Alzheimer’s disease precision medicine

A 5-year, $41 million study will help researchers better understand the biological pathways underlying Alzheimer’s disease and ultimately create more personalized patient care through the development of a blood test for multiple pathways implicated in the disease – enabling earlier and less-invasive diagnosis.

An extra X chromosome-linked gene may explain decreased viral infection severity in females

Researchers may have found why viral infections hit males more severely than females. They found that female mouse and human NK cells have an extra copy of an X chromosome-linked gene called UTX. UTX acts as an epigenetic regulator to boost NK cell anti-viral function, while repressing NK cell numbers.

Trailblazing scientists discuss exposome research, precision nutrition at Mayo Clinic’s Individualizing Medicine Conference  

The next frontier in individualized medicine is here. Mayo Clinic’s 11th annual Individualizing Medicine Conference on Nov. 2–3 will focus on “Exploring the Exposome” — the cumulative measure of environmental influences and associated biological responses throughout the life span of a person, and how those exposures relate to health and disease.  

Physician Scientist to Lead Breast Oncology Program

Yuan Yuan, MD, PhD, a breast medical oncologist and physician scientist who specializes in triple-negative breast cancer and breast cancer immunotherapy, has joined Cedars-Sinai Cancer as director of Breast Oncology. Yuan will treat patients at Cedars-Sinai and at Huntington Cancer Center, an affiliate of Cedars-Sinai Cancer.

Mount Sinai Launches Large-Scale Genetic Sequencing Project with the Regeneron Genetics Center

Mount Sinai Health System and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have launched a new human genome sequencing research project called the Mount Sinai Million Health Discoveries Program with the Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC), part of the industry-leading, New York-based biotechnology company Regeneron.

Groundbreaking for Major Expansion of University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center

The University of Maryland Medical Center celebrates the groundbreaking of a nine-story patient care tower – the Roslyn and Leonard Stoler Center for Advanced Medicine – that will become the new home of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. The $219 million building will enable the cancer center to provide the most technologically advanced, integrated care to cancer patients throughout Maryland and the region well into the future

New Approach Methodologies, Single Cell RNAseq, and More Featured in 2021 Toxicological Sciences

Toxicological Sciences delivers cutting-edge research in toxicology in the areas of clinical and translational toxicology, emerging technologies, and more in the August 2021 issue.

Genetics/biotech expert offers comments & availability on IVG (in vitro gametogenesis) major breakthrough

A groundbreaking study demonstrating the most advanced form of in vitro gametogenesis (making eggs from stem cells, IVG) was published Thursday in Science. See STAT’s coverage of the study.  Regarding the study and breakthrough, Dr. Kevin Doxzen offers the below comments…

New wiki on salivary proteins may transform diagnostic testing and personalized medicine

To improve the development of new saliva-based diagnostic tests and personalized medicine, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) has supported the development of the Human Salivary Proteome Wiki, the first public platform that catalogs and curates data on each of the thousands of proteins within our saliva.

Lurie Children’s Study to Use Soy Isoflavones in a Precision Medicine Approach to Prevent Wheezing and Asthmatic Inflammation in High Risk Infants

Rajesh Kumar, MD, and Jacqueline Pongracic, MD, from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago received $3 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a site-specific clinical trial on whether a soy supplement in infancy can prevent asthma in children with a high-risk genetic variation. This will be one of the earliest precision medicine approaches to asthma prevention.

Precision medicine, digital technology hold potential as powerful tools against tuberculosis

The global fight against tuberculosis is gaining some powerful tools. Precision medicine — already used to personalize diagnosis and treatment of noncommunicable diseases such as cancer — and health care technologies such as telemedicine have the potential to advance the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis, says Zelalem Temesgen, M.D., an infectious diseases expert and medical director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Tuberculosis.

Combination thyroid hormone therapies treat hypothyroidism as well as levothyroxine

Treatment of hypothyroidism, which results from an underactive thyroid gland, should be individualized and consideration should be given to alternatives to the first-line therapy, including desiccated thyroid extract and combination therapy to replace the body’s two main thyroid hormones, thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). Results of their new randomized clinical study are being presented at ENDO 2021, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting.

Biotechnology research and policy expert joins Thunderbird School of Global Management and Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU through World Economic Forum fellowship

Thunderbird School of Global Management announces the first of two prestigious Hoffmann Fellowships appointed in collaboration with the World Economic Forum for post-doctoral research and policy innovation at the intersection of society, science and technology.

Advances in COVID-19 Testing, Artificial Intelligence, Cancer Therapies, and The Future of Precision Medicine to Be Explored at The All-Virtual 2020 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting

In the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the need for reliable, accurate, and accessible laboratory testing is more evident than ever before. At the 2020 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo, laboratory medicine experts will present the cutting-edge research and technology that is revolutionizing clinical testing and patient care for COVID-19 and across the spectrum of healthcare.

The Future of Precision Medicine

Precision medicine is a rapidly growing approach to health care that focuses on finding treatments and interventions that work for people based on their genetic makeup, rather than their symptoms.

Zeeshan Ahmed, director of the new Ahmed Lab at Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, discusses the future of precision medicine, what needs to be done to successfully analyze the data necessary to develop individualized treatments and the role genetics play during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thomas J. Fuchs, DSc, Named Dean of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health and Co-Director of the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health at Mount Sinai

Appointment Advances Health System’s Role as Leader in AI and Digital Health

Johns Hopkins Researchers Offer Lessons Learned From Early Covid-19 Patients

Using a combination of demographic and clinical data gathered from seven weeks of COVID-19 patient care early in the coronavirus pandemic, Johns Hopkins researchers today published a “prediction model” they say can help other hospitals care for COVID-19 patients — and make important decisions about planning and resource allocations.

UChicago bioinformatics team to create data infrastructure for global pediatric cancer initiative

The University of Chicago Pediatric Cancer Data Commons and The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society are working together to bring precision medicine to children and young adults with acute leukemia.

Who Could Benefit From Exercise and Behavioral Treatment?

Aerobic exercise clearly benefits young adults with major depression, and a Rutgers-led study suggests it may be possible to predict those who would benefit from behavioral therapy with exercise. Unique to this precision medicine study, published in the journal Psychological Medicine, is an assessment of cognitive control and reward-related brain activity, two facets of brain function that are impaired in people with depression. Like previous studies, this one showed that aerobic exercise helps young adults with major depression.

Phosphoprotein biomarkers to guide cancer therapy are identified

Post-translational modification analysis may broadly identify new biomarkers of cancer drivers for a much more precise prediction of patient responses to treatments. A recent study demonstrates this diagnostic alternative for neuroendocrine neoplasms driven by a protein kinase called Cdk5.

Johns Hopkins Medicine Announces Microsoft Azure Will Become Its Preferred Cloud Platform for Its inHealth Precision Medicine Initiative

Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) today announced a five-year relationship with Microsoft Corp. centered on Microsoft’s Azure and analytical tools that will support new discoveries, as part of JHM’s inHealth precision medicine initiative. The work will bring together JHM’s leading global research expertise with the power of Microsoft Azure and its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and flexible infrastructure to advance JHM’s discoveries that will benefit personalized health care. Johns Hopkins will maintain total control over its data.

FAU Medicine Ushers in New Research Phase to Prevent Dementia

FAU’s Schmidt College of Medicine and The Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. Foundation have joined forces again to usher in a new phase of research to prevent dementia. The extension of a three-year, $3 million grant from the foundation will launch the new FAU Center for Brain Health. The grant supports precision medicine approaches to prevent dementia, which will be further strengthened by leveraging multiple patient-centered platforms through state-of-the-art transdisciplinary approaches.

UCLA Health’s Dr. Clara Lajonchere elected Chair of the California Precision Medicine Advisory Council

Dr. Clara Lajonchere, deputy director of the Institute for Precision Health at UCLA Health, has been elected chair of the new California Precision Medicine Advisory Council.