CAMDEN, NJ – Coriell Institute for Medical Research has embarked on a partnership with Ohio State University Medical Center physicians to incorporate genetic risk information into their patients’ electronic medical records, through their participation in the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (CPMC) research study. The goal of the CPMC study is to understand the utility of genome information in patient care and develop best practices for the field.
“By providing personal genetic risk data directly to both physicians and their patients, we have a unique opportunity to examine how personalized medicine can be used in the clinic,” says Michael Christman, PhD, president and CEO of Coriell. “This is an important step toward effectively integrating genome information into routine medical care.”
The Coriell/OSU Medical Center partnership brings together two leaders in the emerging field of personalized medicine: Coriell, a renowned non-profit research institute engaged in the study of human genetic diseases and translation into genome-informed clinical care, and OSU Medical Center, an institute dedicated to saving lives and improving the quality of life by translating scientific discoveries in the lab to a patient’s bedside.
The collaboration involves 30-35 Ohio State cardiologists and primary care physicians and 1,800 of their patients who have been diagnosed with congestive heart failure or hypertension. The patients’ genomic information will be entered into their electronic medical records and observations will be made as to how their physicians use the personalized genetic risk information to make clinical care decisions. The study will reveal whether genome-informed medicine has utility in practice, and how likely doctors are to use the information when it is made available to them.
“We are providing physicians with the technology and educational tools to deliver care that is customized to the needs of each individual,” says Christman. Congestive heart failure will affect 5.7 million Americans and lead to 300,000 deaths this year. Hypertension affects nearly one-quarter of adults in the nation. As chronic heart disease patients are often treated with multiple medications, personalized medicine can help physicians make the best prescribing decisions and also identify disease risks, resulting in safer and more accurate care for patients.
In addition to monitoring physician behavior and knowledge, the impact of genetic counseling on patient behaviors will also be studied. While the CPMC offers genetic counseling to all participants free of charge (via phone and email), the Coriell/OSU Medical Center collaboration requires some participants to attend an in-person genetic counseling session. Participants will be asked to complete a series of surveys regarding the understanding of their risk, knowledge of genetics, what they did after learning of their personalized risk information, and with whom they shared their results. Differences between the two groups will provide insight into the role genetic counselors play as educators in personalized medicine.
The executive director of Ohio State’s Center for Personalized Health Care, and a co-investigator on the Coriell/OSU Medical Center partnership, Clay Marsh, MD, recognizes the need to engage patients to become more actively involved in their own healthcare management and sees the Coriell collaboration as that opportunity. “Overall, we want to improve people’s lives through healthcare."
About Coriell Institute
Coriell Institute for Medical Research is an independent, non-profit biomedical research center based in Camden, New Jersey. Founded in 1953, the Institute is dedicated to unlocking the genetic code of human disease. Coriell is a pioneer in genomics, examining the utility of genetic information in clinical care through the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (CPMC) research study (cpmc.coriell.org). The Institute is also exploring the promise of induced pluripotent stem cells – stem cells created from skin or blood – and their role in disease research and drug discovery. Additionally, Coriell continues to be recognized as the world's leading biobank, distributing biological samples and offering custom research and biobanking services to scientists around the globe. For more information, visit www.coriell.org or follow @Coriell_Science on Twitter.
