Coriell Institute for Medical Research announces that Ohio State University Medical Center will join the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative® research study and examine the utility of incorporating genome information into patients’ primary healthcare at the medical center.

This is a paramount relationship for the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative® (CPMC®). “Coriell recognizes Ohio State University Medical Center’s established leadership in personalized healthcare and how this offers a unique setting for the CPMC® research study,”
said Coriell President and CEO, Michael F. Christman, PhD. The new collaboration involves the enrollment of Ohio State University Medical Center (OSUMC) patients into the CPMC through their primary care physician. Physicians and patients will have the opportunity to learn about personalized disease risk information drawn from the patient’s genome and how this may enrich routine physician-patient interactions.

The CPMC is a long-term research study designed to determine the utility of using personal genome information in health management and clinical decision-making. This forward-looking, collaborative effort involves volunteer study participants who submit a small saliva sample for genome analysis, answer online health questionnaires, and in return, receive personal risk assessments for potentially actionable health conditions and response to commonly prescribed medications. These personalized results are based on genetics, family history, lifestyle and personal medical history. The study, which launched in December 2007 and intends to enroll 100,000 participants, also aims to utilize participants’ medical history and genetic data to discover presently unknown gene variants that affect susceptibility to disease and response to prescription medications.

“Through this collaboration [with the CPMC], we will provide the unique opportunity for our community to participate in this ground-breaking national study and move toward wellnessbased care that is predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory,” said Clay Marsh, MD, executive director of Ohio State’s Center for Personalized Health Care.

As one of the largest and most diverse academic medical centers in the country, OSUMC is committed to delivering care to meet each person’s unique needs by working with individuals to help them achieve and maintain optimum health; preparing the next generation of health care providers to offer a new level of care; and focusing research in areas that show the most promise for addressing individual aspects of disease and disease prevention. OSUMC aims to save lives and improve the quality of life by translating scientific discoveries in the lab to a patient’s bedside.

The CPMC® collaboration with OSUMC’s Center for Personalized Health Care grew from a common vision that medicine needs to move away from the one-size-fits-all approach and toward care that is individually tailored.

The partnership will accelerate the incorporation of genome information into medical care by providing OSUMC’s patients and their primary care physicians with risk assessments for health conditions including age-related macular degeneration, colon cancer, coronary artery disease, hemochromatosis, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, melanoma, obesity, prostate cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and type I and type 2 diabetes. Risks for adverse drug reactions and additional health conditions will also be reported.

“Delivering risk assessments to patients and physicians directly will allow the CPMC to study how genome information is best incorporated into health management and clinical decisionmaking,” adds Dr Christman. “The ultimate goal is to give physicians the tools to be able to deliver care that is tailored to meet the needs of each individual.”

Source: Coriell Institute for Medical Research