Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center collaborates with Navigenics to make personalized genomics available to doctors in training

Oct 21 2009

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Navigenics, Inc., a leading personal genomics company, today announced a collaboration to make personalized genomics available to doctors in training.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has launched the Personalized Genomics and Next Generation Sequencing Training Program, a series of lectures, discussions and presentations designed to promote better understanding of personalized genomics and the next generation sequencing technologies available to today’s healthcare providers. And, unique to the program, the participants will be given the opportunity to have their own genomes analyzed through Navigenics genetic testing services.

“We believe that genetics and genomics will be critical to the future of health care,” said Mark Boguski, M.D., Ph.D. of BIDMC’s Department of Pathology and the Center for Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School. “Training our residents on the leading genetic services and technologies will be essential to this future, and we are excited to be in the vanguard of a growing effort to incorporate genetics into medical education nationwide.”

BIDMC Pathology residents who choose to undergo personalized genetic testing will receive important insights into their personal genetic health – including their predisposition for developing health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart attack, and celiac disease. Working with one of Navigenics’ board-certified genetic counselors, the pathology residents will gain firsthand experience interpreting genomic information and understanding its correlation with related personal medical and health information.

Specifically, BIDMC hopes that this experience with personal genomics combined with the broad educational program will help its medical trainees:

• Understand how personalized genomics might improve the understanding and management of human health and disease
• Understand standards of scientific evidence applied to gene-disease associations and different approaches to risk assessment
• Become familiar with the educational and informational resources for personalized genomics and its potential
• Understand the issues related to the evaluation of direct-to-consumer genotyping services
• Become familiar with the interpretation of genomic information and its correlation with related personal medical and health information

“Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a leader in clinical and educational excellence,” noted Jonathan Lord, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Navigenics. “With this progressive program they are setting a precedent for genetics education for the physicians of tomorrow, and we are thrilled to be a part of this pioneering effort.”

Source: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center