- Keynotes Include HHS Secretary Leavitt, Dr. McClellan of The Brookings
Institution, Dr. FitzGerald of Georgetown University Medical Center, and
The Hon. Billy Tauzin of PhRMA -
- HHS Issues First Report on Personalized Health Care -
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- As the U.S. confronts significant
issues in improving healthcare quality and controlling costs, the combined
benefits of personalized healthcare and evidence-based medicine are
emerging as complementary approaches to address these challenges.
Recognizing the critical importance of evidence-based medicine and
personalized medicine to healthcare, leading figures in government,
industry and academia are gathering on September 18-19, 2007 at the
Georgetown University Law Center to discuss the policies that will be
needed to ensure that healthcare of the future is both evidence-based and
patient-centered. 21st Century Medicine: Personalized and Evidence-Based is
an evening and one day conference, hosted by the Personalized Medicine
Coalition (PMC) and the Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health
Studies, to frame the debate about improving the healthcare system.
Key topics at the conference include:
-- The potential of personalized, evidence-based medicine to address the
biggest challenges of the healthcare system
-- The role of pharmacogenomics in improvement of clinical outcomes
-- Partnering opportunities between the public and private sectors
-- The development of common goals and a new policy framework
The event features keynote speaker Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of
Health and Human Services (HHS). At the conference HHS will release its
first report on personalized medicine, entitled "Personalized Health Care:
Opportunities, Pathways, Resources." The report outlines a common vision of
opportunities and benefits from combining personalized medicine, health
information technology and evidence-based care. It also catalogs the
multiple personalized healthcare initiatives throughout HHS currently
underway.
Additional highlighted speakers include:
-- Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Fellow and Director of the
Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform of The Brookings Institution
and former head of the US Food and Drug Administration and the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services;
-- The Honorable W.J. Billy Tauzin, President and Chief Executive Officer
of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA);
-- Carolyn Clancy, M.D., Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality;
-- Janet Woodcock, M.D., Deputy Commissioner and Chief Medical Officer of
the US Food and Drug Administration;
-- George Poste, D.V.M., Ph.D., D.Sc., F.R.S., Director, Del E. Webb
Distinguished Professor of Biology, and Regents' Professor, The
Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University;
-- Kevin FitzGerald, S.J., Ph.D., the Dr. David Lauler Chair in Catholic
Health Care Ethics, Georgetown University Medical Center, and Chairman,
Pharmacogenomics Task Force, Secretary's Advisory Committee on
Genetics, Health, and Society;
-- Michael McGinnis, M.D., M.P.P., Senior Scholar, Institute of Medicine;
-- Dan Roden, M.D., Professor -- Medicine and Pharmacology, Assistant
Vice-chancellor for Personalized Medicine, Vanderbilt University School
of Medicine;
-- Lewis Sandy, M.D., Senior Vice President -- Clinical Advancement,
United Health Group.
"By gathering leading thinkers in both evidence-based medicine and
personalized medicine at a critical moment, the conference will elucidate
new ideas on improving the healthcare system," said Edward Abrahams, PMC
Executive Director.
"Personalized medicine and evidence-based healthcare offer important
solutions for better health and better healthcare," noted The Hon. W. J.
Billy Tauzin, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). "America's biopharmaceutical
companies are at the forefront of the scientific research advancing these
solutions, and we are committed to working with partners from across the
spectrum of healthcare on personalized, evidence-based solutions that put
the patient first," he added.
"The forces of healthcare reform are gathering steam, and there is a
growing recognition of the importance of advancing personalized healthcare
and evidence-based medicine in ways that are mutually reinforcing," added
Wayne Rosenkrans, President and Chair of the PMC Board. "To realize this
potential, it will be critically important to establish policies that
support both evidence-based and personalized medicine," he concluded.
"We are closer to a vision of personalized healthcare than ever
before," said Carolyn Clancy, M.D., Director of the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality. "It is therefore important that we continue to
collaborate on setting clear priorities that meet the needs of all
stakeholders."
Personalized healthcare applies knowledge of an individual's genetic
and molecular profile to determine predisposition to certain diseases,
guide disease prevention strategies and facilitate the smarter use of
therapies -- that is, select treatments that are more likely to be
effective and less likely to cause harmful side effects for the individual
patient. Often called "personalized medicine," linking therapy to molecular
diagnostics has the potential to enhance preventative medicine and reduce
the use of "one-size-fits-all" and "trial-and-error" approaches to patient
management.
Evidence-based medicine is an approach to clinical decision making that
combines a physician's expertise with knowledge derived from the systematic
comparison and analysis of available interventions and their clinical
outcomes. Proponents of evidence-based medicine stress the importance of
ensuring that clinical decision-making is grounded in best available
evidence.
"The effort to evolve our healthcare system will require a close
collaboration of policymakers and practitioners," said Bette Keltner,
Ph.D., Dean and Professor at Georgetown University School of Nursing &
Health Studies. "We must train our healthcare professional workforce for
the new realities of personalized medicine. We also need to focus attention
on product regulation, insurance reimbursement, information technology
infrastructure, medical privacy legislation, and ethical considerations.
This conference launches an important collaboration to improve the health
and well being of all people."
21st Century Medicine: Personalized and Evidence-Based is sponsored by
AstraZeneca and PhRMA, along with co-sponsors Novartis, Wyeth, Abbott
Laboratories, Affymetrix, Clinical Data Corp., Genzyme Corporation, IBM,
Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer. Event partners include The Health
Industry Forum and Avalere Health LLC.
For more information about 21st Century Medicine: Personalized and
Evidence-Based including agenda and registration, visit: (Due to the length
of this URL, please copy and paste directly into your Internet browser)
http://www.personalizedmedicinecoalition.org/programs/ebm_seminar_2007/over
vie w.php.
About the Personalized Medicine Coalition
The Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC), representing a broad
spectrum of academic, industrial, patient, provider, and payer communities,
seeks to advance the understanding and adoption of personalized medicine
concepts and products for the benefit of patients. For more information on
the Personalized Medicine Coalition, please visit:
http://www.PersonalizedMedicineCoalition.org.
About Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies
Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies (NHS)
translates science into outcomes that benefit the public's health. NHS
lives its mission "to improve the health and well being of all people"
through innovative educational and research programs. The school houses a
multimillion-dollar research portfolio and includes the Departments of
Health Systems Administration, Human Science, International Health, and
Nursing, as well as the Center on Health and Education and-in partnership
with Georgetown University Law Center-the Linda and Timothy O'Neill
Institute for National and Global Health Law. For more information, visit:
http://nhs.georgetown.edu/.
Contact:
Christine Mackenzie
(617) 761-6737
Christine.mackenzie@fkhealth.com
SOURCE The Personalized Medicine Coalition
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Related links:
http://www.PersonalizedMedicineCoalition.org
http://nhs.georgetown.edu
CONTACT:
Christine Mackenzie, +1-617-761-6737,
Christine.mackenzie@fkhealth.com, for the Personalized Medicine
Coalition
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