President Obama and the Genome

Now that we have a new president many may wonder what will occur in the realm of personalized medicine. Well, the short answer is ALOT. Several things that the democratic majority in the house, senate and executive branch plan to enact.

1. Senator/President Elect Obama's Personalized Medicine Bill will likely pass. What does that mean?

He has proposed an interagency task force on genomics research, modernize FDA review of genomics tests and expand support to genomics researchers, including funding and creation of a new mechanism to allow researchers across the country to access and analyze genomics research. As president, Obama will continue to support advances in personalized medicine to help ensure early detection and treatment of cancer and other diseases. The bill appropriates $75 million a year to establish a National Biobanking Initiative and another $26 million to "Realizing the Potential of Personalized Medicine".

This means greater regulation in the field....including DTC testing. Too bad for Rupert Murdoch but we are actually going to require evidence for testing...

2. Increased funding for Personalized Medicine in Oncology

The Obama-Biden plan will help our health care workforce grow by expanding funding for loan repayment, adequate reimbursement, grants for training curricula, the Nurse Reinvestment Act of Title VIII of the Public Health Act, and infrastructure support to improve working conditions. The Obama-Biden plan to double cancer research funding will also help recruit and retain clinical researchers who specialize in cancer by providing adequate funding for oncological study.

3. Obama will likely be having Francis advise him....The big geneticist from MY institution! Can only mean good things