Precision Medicine Initiative
Precision Medicine Initiative
- What are the near-term goals?
- What are the longer-term goals?
- How is it different?
- Who will participate?
- NIH Workshop
The Precision Medicine Initiative: Infographic
View larger (PDF - 163KB)
What are the longer-term goals?
Advance Precision Medicine to All Areas of Health
The Precision Medicine Initiative will build a comprehensive scientific knowledge base to put precision medicine into practice on a much larger scale. To achieve this goal, the Initiative will 1) support a national network of scientists who possess the talent and skills to develop new approaches for answering critical scientific and medical questions and 2) launch a national cohort study of a million or more Americans to propel our understanding of health and disease. The goal is to set the foundation for a new way of doing research that fosters open, responsible data sharing with the highest regard to patient privacy, and that puts engaged participants at the center.
Each voluntary participant will share their genomic information and biological specimens. This information, along with important clinical data from electronic health records, such as laboratory test results and MRI scans, and lifestyle data, such as calorie consumption and environmental exposures tracked through mobile health devices, will help researchers understand how genomic variations and other health factors affect the development of disease. Through the consent process, participants will control how the information is used in research and shared. As active participants, they also will have access to their own health data, as well as research using their data, to help inform their own health decisions. Through this dynamic community, researchers will be able to advance the information derived from this cohort into new knowledge, approaches, and treatments.
Related Links
A large cohort could help researchers:
- Identify genomic variants that affect drug response
- Assess clinical validity of genomic variants associated with disease
- Identify biomarkers that are early indicators of disease
- Understand chronic diseases and best management strategies
- Understand genes/pathways/factors that protect from disease
- Assess how well novel cellphone-based monitors of health work
- Evaluate the ability of EHRs to integrate research data
- Learn and apply new ways of engaging participants in research
- Develop methodology for data mining and statistical analysis
Social Media Links