PRECISION MEDICINE
Precision medicine is an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person. The Precision Medicine Initiative will generate the scientific evidence needed to move the concept of precision medicine into clinical practice. While significant advances in precision medicine have been made for select cancers, the practice is not currently in use for most diseases. Many efforts are underway to help make precision medicine the norm rather than the exception. To accelerate the pace of making it the norm, President Obama unveiled the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) — a bold new enterprise to revolutionize medicine and generate the scientific evidence needed to move the concept of precision medicine into every day clinical practice.
IDEAL TIME
Advancement in sequencing of the human genome; new tools for using and analyzing large data sets and improved technological analysis tools are ingredients that have made now the ideal time to go forward with this emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention.
GOALS
Near term and longer term goals have been established for this initiative. One immediate goal of the Precision Medicine Initiative will be to significantly expand efforts in cancer genomics to create prevention and treatment successes for more cancers and diabetics. The Initiative will support innovative clinical trials of targeted drugs for adult and pediatric cancers. The scientific community will work in partnership with pharmaceutical companies to advance precision medicine. Testing of more combinations of targeted therapies that are based on a tumor’s molecular signature will become the norm. By gaining knowledge and developing solutions to drug resistance that commonly limit the effectiveness of targeted therapies is hoped to expand the precision medicine initiative.
The longer term goals include creating a research cohort of approximately 1 million American volunteers who will share genetic data, biological samples, and diet/lifestyle information. Pioneer a new model for doing science that emphasizes engaged participants, responsible data sharing, and privacy protection. Research based upon the cohort data will advance pharmacogenomics, the right drug for the right patient at the right dose; identify new targets for treatment and prevention; test whether mobile devices can encourage healthy behaviors and lay a scientific foundation for precision medicine for many diseases.
GET INVOLVED
Follow the initiative’s progress and consider volunteering. More information may be found at www.nih.gov/precisionmedicine or www.whitehouse.gov/precision-medicine