Precision Medicine Moves from Promise to Reality
Sema4 was founded to bring precision medicine to health care systems. The idea was to bring teams of scientists, data engineers, and clinicians to work together to advance precision medicine approaches.A big data-driven approach to medicine could help researchers assess underlying mechanisms of disease, develop accurate diagnostics for the early identification or prevention of disease, and match optimal treatments to patients based on their disease, history, and environment.
“We help develop decision-support tools so patients understand what this information means in the context of themselves, their families, and their family-building goals.” says Dr. Alan Copperman, director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and chief medical officer of Sema4. When the tests are used in connection with in vitro fertilization, “we can use the information to prove embryos and figure out which embryo from a cohort is most likely to implant and become a healthy baby.” With access to new capabilities in gene sequencing, RNA analysis, supercomputing, bioinformatics, and pharmacogenetics, researchers at Mount Sinai now regularly work across groups and departments to advance health care both at a population level and a personal one.
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