Towards Clinical Use of Whole Genome Sequencing based Tests in a Clinical Setting – Year two

Using genomics in clinical care has the potential to treat patients more efficiently. There have been a number of recent discoveries of genomic assays that can guide treatment. However, most genomic data is generated in a research setting and useful health data only in a clinical setting. Translating potential genomic research into a clinical setting as well as bringing clinical data into a research setting faces significant challenges. One challenge is technical: genomic tests often take days to run and are thus not efficient enough for a clinical use. Another challenge is the public perception: because genomic data is very private, the patient’s privacy needs to be ensured and the public opinion about this has to be respected. A final challenge is logistic: how can genomic data be linked into clinical records when the data is generated at different sites and different organizations have to be involved.
We propose to address these challenges. We will gather best practices and key characteristics of already successfully established genomic projects that cooperate with clinical sites. We will identify one or two clinical sites within Ontario that are positioned to implement genomic tests and start to integrate them. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Quaid Morris

Student:

Linda Sundermann

Partner:

Vector Institute

Discipline:

Biochemistry / Molecular biology

Sector:

Life sciences

University:

University of Toronto