GenomeFIRST Awarded $400K Grant to Bring Genomic Information into Patients' Care Plans

Geisinger Health System has been awarded a $400,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to support GenomeFIRST Medicine, a unique program to help patients and providers understand and use genomic information in their health care.
According to the press release:

The GenomeFIRST Medicine program takes a comprehensive approach to care that includes genomic screening, interpretation and managing results — essentially changing health care by expanding providers’ ability to care for their patients before a problem arises. With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Geisinger will pilot a scalable model for integrating genomic results into the everyday care of 300 Geisinger patients. The project will focus on the three most common genetic conditions in Geisinger’s GenomeFIRST program: Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome (HBOC), Lynch Syndrome, and Familial Hypercholesterolemia.

Dr. Michael Murray, director of clinical genomics, Geisinger Genomic Medicine Institute commented:

As we enter the era of precision health, we will increasingly use genetic information to identify health risk and then use preventive strategies to avoid disease. This program is building the infrastructure to do that. At Geisinger, we strongly believe that genome sequencing will become more and more integrated into routine care, and that GenomeFIRST Medicine will drive medicine toward early diagnoses and disease prevention for many of our patients.

Click here to view the full press release.