For entertainment giants such as Netflix and HBO, theres an oft-cited concept known as the last mile. It refers to the performance bottleneck that can arise in the short, final stretch of cable that links their vast, sophisticated server farms to the humble jack on a subscribers wall. More than a decade after the immense promise unleashed by the completion of Human Genome Project, precision medicine has struggled with its own last mile. Despite major leaps in the field as a whole, the technical work needed to integrate a patients genomic information into the day-to-day practice of medicine has lagged far behind. This month, UCSF is unveiling its bridge across that persistent gap. Kristen McCaleb, PhD, program manager for the UCSF Genomic Medicine Initiative, and Jonathan Hirsch, founder of Syapse. Photo by Elisabeth Fall Robert Nussbaum, MD, leads the UCSF Genomic Medicine Initiative. Photo by Cindy Chew Through its Genomic Medicine Initiative (GMI), UCSF has integrated data from a comprehensive cancer genetic testing program into the electronic medical records of patients at the UCSF Medical Center. Not only does it allow for continuity of care with all testing and treatment results tied to the same electronic record, but it also … Continue reading →

Published November 07, 2014 A team of stem cell scientists has identified the biological mechanisms of Parkinsons disease and recreated a model of the disease in a dish. Researchers at The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute studied a pair of identical twins one with Parkinsons and one without as well as another unrelated Parkinsons patient and four healthy control subjects to observe key characteristics of the disease. After comparing the individuals biological factors, they noticed differences in the patients neurons ability to produce dopamine. Dopamine production is deficient in Parkinsons disease. "The unique scenario of identical twins, one with this disease and one without, allowed our scientists an unprecedented look into the mechanisms of Parkinson's disease," Susan L. Solomon, NYSCF chief executive officer, said in a news release. "Advanced stem cell research techniques allow us to push the boundaries of science and see what actually goes wrong at the cellular level, step by step during the disease process." Parkinsons disease affects an estimated 500,000 people in the United States, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The average age of onset is 60, and the risk of developing it increases with age. Symptoms of Parkinsons include … Continue reading →