A Novel Approach to Applying Genomic Patient Data to Improve Multiple Sclerosis Treatments

There are over 2.3 million people with multiple sclerosis (MS) worldwide; in the US alone, more than 450,000 people are living with MS today and 10,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. The need for precision medicine-based approaches to diagnose and treat MS is more critical today than ever.

MS is difficult to diagnose and manage due to a lack of identified biomarkers that predict disease onset, progression and response to therapy. To make precision medicine for MS a reality, scientists need access to high quality, deeply-annotated clinical genomic datasets generated in a real-world patient care setting. 

In this webinar, learn about a new study designed to assess EHR data, patient-reported outcomes, imaging data and blood samples in a quick, secure and economical manner. The speakers will discuss the following features of the first large-scale clinical genomic MS study:

• Study components
• A technology platform capable of assessing clinical and genomic features of MS
• Strategies for tracking MS subtypes, disability progression and differential response to therapy

These clinical data will be used to advance precision medicine and ultimately enhance MS care.

Speakers

(Host) Megan Laurance, PhD, Senior Director of Data Services, DNAnexus

Megan works with DNAnexus’ healthcare institution partners and pharma clients to build disease-specific clinico-genomic datasets designed to accelerate precision health and pharma R&D goals. Megan has a broad background in the design and launch of data curation processes, biomedical knowledge bases, and genomic data analysis tools that enable biomedical researchers to generate clinically actionable findings from large multi-dimensional datasets. Prior to joining DNAnexus, Megan was the Program Manager for UCSF’s HDFCCC Molecular Oncology Initiative, where she focused on clinical programs, data management processes, and retrospective studies needed to drive clinical adoption of a 500-gene tumor/normal sequencing assay for patients with advanced cancer. Prior to UCSF, Megan held positions in Product Marketing and Product Management at Ingenuity Systems (Qiagen), a genomic data analysis software company. Megan has a B.S. in Biology from Boston College, a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Oregon Health & Science University, has been working in the field of biomedical research in various academic and industry positions for 28 years, with numerous peer-reviewed publications and patents to her name.

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(Guest Presenter) Greg Tranah, PhD, Executive Director of Precision Medicine, Sutter Health

Greg is Executive Director of Precision Medicine at Sutter Health and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. At Sutter Health, Greg directs the Precision Medicine Center dedicated to accelerating the discovery, translation, and clinical implementation of genomic predictors of disease progression and treatment response for patients across a 3.5 million patient healthcare system. In addition to building a 100,000 patient biobank representing several disease areas in oncology, cardiovascular disease, aging, neurology, and movement disorders, Greg is developing a research program integrating electronic health records and genomic data to transform clinical practice and improve patient health and functioning.

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