Creating a way to put data together from a labyrinth of current studies has been described by the Director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins as most puzzling part of President Barack Obama’s $215 million “precision medicine” program. It is one of the parts that Dr. Collins has indicated, he will give his total commitment towards, since medical records from numerous health systems must be put together and make them functional.
Various health providers the likes of Kaiser Permanente and the US Department of Veterans Affairs have already expressed their interest in being part of the studies. The study is targeting more than One Million Americans from whom collection of health information data will be done.
According to Dr. Collins, it is worth venturing into this program. He is keen on the fact that many illnesses do not have proper preventive and treatment methods as yet. Hence this program will tend to increase development and improvement of how human diseases lead into creating medicines that will result into an individual’s makeup and upkeep. Clinicians will be able to have specific individuals’ information on their fingertips which will lead to being able to give personalized treatment.
He adds that the participating individuals will have control over the data that will be collected. The whole initiative which will be led by NIH Deputy Director Kathy Hudson and Yale geneticist Dr. Richard Lifton is expected to take several months of study by the panel who will be perusing through plentiful of proposals.
The “precision medicine” program has been termed as an envisioned revolution of biomedicine innovation, which will make customized treatments possible. This is the smartest ever move, the government has made with its funding hence it deserves support from all quarters. Precision medicine will come in handy for the doctors who have been grappling with a series of diseases which include various types of diabetes and cancer in addition to a handful of serious mental illnesses.