The Obama administration is proposing to create a large database of patient information, including genetic profiles and medical histories, to further research into precision medicine, which aims to create customized treatments based on a patients genetic makeup and lifestyle choices. Precision, or personalized, medicine works much the same way that an eyeglass prescription or a blood transfusion is prescribed, based on a patient's exam results or blood type, and proponents believe this line of thinking may be extended to many more areas of medicine. Jo Handelsman, associate director for science at the White House Office of Science and Technology, has called the $215 million budget allocation for the Precision Medicine Initiative in Obamas proposed 2016 budget a move away from the one-size-fits-all approach to medicine. Obama's proposal grants $130 million to the National Institutes of Health to launch a national long-term study that will collect biological samples, genetic profiles and electronic health records from at least a million Americans. Researchers may use an app to track the calorie consumption or environmental health impacts of participants through their smartphones and the database could include everything from their laboratory test results to MRI scans. Patient data will be anonymized and participation is … Continue reading →

The United States has proposed analysing genetic information from more than 1 million American volunteers as part of a new initiative to understand human disease and develop medicines targeted to an individual's genetic make-up. At the heart of the "precision medicine" initiative, announced todayby President Barack Obama, is the creation of a pool of people - healthy and ill, men and women, old and young - who would be studied to learn how genetic variants affect health and disease. Officials hope genetic data from several hundred thousand participants in ongoing genetic studies would be used and other volunteers recruited to reach the 1 million total. "Precision medicine gives us one of the greatest opportunities for new medical breakthroughs we've ever seen," Obama said, promising that it would "lay a foundation for a new era of life-saving discoveries." The near-term goal is to create more and better treatments for cancer, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), told reporters on a conference call on Thursday. Longer term, he said, the project would provide information on how to individualize treatment for a range of diseases. The initial focus on cancer, he said, reflects the lethality of the disease … Continue reading →

Speaking at the White House on Jan. 30, President Obama urged support for a section in his budget proposal that would fund research in the field of "precision" or "personal" medicine. Here are highlights from that speech. The centerpiece of President Obamas new precision medicine initiative would be a massive database containing the genetic profiles, medical histories and other data of a million or more willing Americans. The effort, which federal officials said would partly include pooling volunteers from existing studies into a single project, is aimed at helping doctors and researchers better understand the complicated mechanisms underlying any number of illnesses. This research will dramatically advance our knowledge of diseases, how they originated and how we may prevent or treat them, said Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. Obama plans to outline the idea Friday morning at the White House in front of academics, researchers and drug-industry officials. It is part of a broader initiative to bolster precision medicine, which tries to tailor treatments and preventive measures based on individuals makeup. It holds the potential to revolutionize the way we approach health in this country and, ultimately, around the world, Jo Handelsman, associate director for science … Continue reading →

Friday, January 30 17:16:45 The United States has proposed analyzing genetic information from more than 1 million American volunteers as part of a new initiative to understand human disease and develop medicines targeted to an individual's genetic make-up. At the heart of the "precision medicine" initiative, announced on Friday by President Barack Obama, is the creation of a pool of people - healthy and ill, men and women, old and young - who would be studied to learn how genetic variants affect health and disease. Officials hope genetic data from several hundred thousand participants in ongoing genetic studies would be used and other volunteers recruited to reach the 1 million total. "Precision medicine gives us one of the greatest opportunities for new medical breakthroughs we've ever seen," Obama said, promising that it would "lay a foundation for a new era of life-saving discoveries." The near-term goal is to create more and better treatments for cancer, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), told reporters on a conference call on Thursday. Longer term, he said, the project would provide information on how to individualize treatment for a range of diseases. The initial focus on cancer, he said, … Continue reading →

President Obama on Friday rolled out a proposal to invest $215 million this year in an initiative to advance "precision medicine," an approach to disease prevention and treatment that moves beyond a "one-size-fits" all approach. Precision medicine "gives us one of the greatest opportunities for new medical breakthroughs that we have ever seen," Mr. Obama said from the East Room of the White House. "Doctors have always recognized that every patient is unique," he continued, noting that doctors that can match a blood transfusion to a blood type. "What if matching a cancer cure to our genetic code was just as easy?" the president asked. "That's the promise of precision medicine, delivering the right treatments at the right time, every time, to the right person." Precision medicine takes into account people's genes, environments and lifestyles, giving clinicians tools to better understand the mechanisms underlying certain diseases and conditions -- and which treatments to use. Already, it's used for a small but growing number of patients. For instance, doctors can use genetic testing to determine whether an HIV patient will be helped by a certain antiviral drug. "What's so exciting is we have the possibility of leading a new era of … Continue reading →

Sheryl Ubelacker, The Canadian Press Published Thursday, January 29, 2015 6:49AM EST TORONTO -- Gordie Howe's son says the hockey legend's stroke symptoms have improved since his treatment with stem cells at a Mexican clinic in early December and he wants him to repeat the procedure. But regenerative medicine experts say there's no scientific evidence such therapies work, and in some cases they can be seriously harmful or even deadly. The 86-year-old Howe suffered two disabling strokes late last year. In December, the family took him to a Tijuana clinic where he received stem cell injections as part of a clinical trial being run under a licensing agreement with Stemedica Cell Technologies of San Diego, Calif. The experimental treatment involved injecting neural stem cells into Howe's spinal canal, along with intravenous infusions of mesenchymal stem cells, which are found in bone marrow, fat and umbilical cord blood. Marty Howe said his father can walk again, his speech is improving and he is regaining some of the weight he lost following the strokes. "After his stem cell treatment, the doctor told us it was kind of an awakening of the body, and it was all that," he told The Canadian Press … Continue reading →

TORONTO - Gordie Howe's son says the hockey legend's stroke symptoms have improved since his treatment with stem cells at a Mexican clinic in early December and he wants him to repeat the procedure. But regenerative medicine experts say there's no scientific evidence such therapies work, and in some cases they can be seriously harmful or even deadly. The 86-year-old Howe suffered two disabling strokes late last year. In December, the family took him to a Tijuana clinic where he received stem cell injections as part of a clinical trial being run under a licensing agreement with Stemedica Cell Technologies of San Diego, Calif. The experimental treatment involved injecting neural stem cells into Howe's spinal canal, along with intravenous infusions of mesenchymal stem cells, which are found in bone marrow, fat and umbilical cord blood. Marty Howe said his father can walk again, his speech is improving and he is regaining some of the weight he lost following the strokes. "After his stem cell treatment, the doctor told us it was kind of an awakening of the body, and it was all that," he told The Canadian Press while in Calgary for a hockey promotion event Tuesday. "They call it … Continue reading →

By Sheryl Ubelacker, The Canadian Press TORONTO - Two Canadian research centres are gearing up for a clinical trial to determine if a type of stem cell can help alleviate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Researchers at the Ottawa Hospital and Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre will each recruit 20 MS patients for the trial that will test whether mesenchymal stem cells can reduce inflammation and even help repair damage already caused by the disease. MS is thought to be an autoimmune disease that creates inflammation in the central nervous system, resulting in injury to myelin, the protective sheath that covers nerves. This damage can create a host of symptoms, leading to varying degrees of physical disability and cognitive impairment. Mesenchymal stem cells, which are found in bone marrow, fat, skin tissue and umbilical cord blood, have the ability to modify the immune system and reduce inflammation, said neurologist Dr. Mark Freedman of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, who is leading the clinical trial. Freedman said researchers want to determine if these stem cells can demonstrate anti-inflammatory properties in patients with MS. "But that's not why we're doing it," he said of the study, called MESCAMS ("MEsenchymal Stem cell therapy for … Continue reading →

Kanye West's daughter flushed his phone down the toilet. The 'Only One' hitmaker found himself without a mobile phone when his wife, Kim Kardashian West, caught their 19-month-old child North in the bathroom, attempting to flush the device. Kim shared: "Not last night, but the night before, I hear North in the bathroom and I hear the toilet flushing and flushing. "And I run in there and I'm like, 'Wait a minute babe,' to Kanye. 'Didn't she have your phone a second ago?' The phone was in the toilet!" Despite all attempts to save the precious device, there was no luck. She recalled: "I put it in a bag of rice, [but] nothing worked." The 34-year-old 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' star also revealed that her husband likes to get creative in the bathroom and it is where he regularly comes up with some of his hit tracks. Speaking on 'On Air With Ryan Seacrest', she said: "I really do hear [his work] as it's happening. "Sometimes he'll be in the shower...and he'll think of an idea... or when we're just getting ready, he'll be rapping to himself or singing." Meanwhile, Kanye recently praised his wife and daughter for teaching … Continue reading →