CONTACT
Gwen Gordon
Phone: (202) 589-1770
ggordon@PersonalizedMedicineCoalition.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, DC (January 3, 2011) – The Personalized Medicine Coalition will host New Frontiers in Personalized Medicine: Cardiovascular Research and Clinical Care, a forthcoming conference which will bring together leaders from academe, industry and government to address the critical issues facing the future of cardiovascular research and clinical care in science, business, education and policy.

“It’s critical to help the research and medical community appreciate the applications of personalized medicine to cardiovascular disease” said Edward Abrahams, President of the Personalized Medicine Coalition. “New technologies and understandings of individual variation have the potential to reshape cardiovascular care and improve health outcomes.”

The conference will examine current clinical applications of personalized cardiovascular medicine including warfarin genetics, long QT syndrome, and alternatives to invasive heart biopsies.  These together with emerging technologies, diagnostics and treatments will reconfigure the field in the future. 

While a recent report from the CDC’s Evolution of Genetic Applications in Practice and Prevention (EGAPP) group suggested that there is “insufficient evidence” to determine the clinical utility of genetic-based diagnostic tests to assess cardiovascular disease risk, conference presenters representing a range of innovative, science-driven companies will showcase their work and demonstrate that personalized cardiovascular medicine is here.    

“Cardiovascular disease remains the number one cause of death in the United States, but scientists and entrepreneurs are making great progress to improve patient care through the personalization of treatment” said Brook Byers of the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a conference sponsor and investor in innovative companies using new technologies such as molecular and proteomic diagnostics.  “I am confident that personalized medicine will transform cardiovascular medicine the way it has transformed oncology to improve outcomes and reduce costs.”

During a keynote address, American College of Cardiology (ACC) CEO Jack Lewin, M.D., will release the results of an ACC survey that examines the adoption of personalized medicine and pharmacogenomic concepts and products among U.S. cardiologists.

Chaired by Richard Katz, M.D., of the George Washington University and Jay Wohlgemuth, M.D., of Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute, the Personalized Medicine Coalition is hosting the conference in collaboration with the American College of Cardiology, the American Medical Association, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and the Cheney Cardiovascular Institute at the George Washington University.

“The potential of personalized medicine is to identify which individuals are at risk as well as those not at risk for developing cardiovascular disease and target appropriate testing and treatments accordingly,” said Dr. Richard Katz, a conference co-chairman and Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University, where the meeting will be held.  “This conference will showcase current methods for targeting cardiovascular disease and preview new technologies that will expand our ability to match therapy to patient in the coming years.”

The conference will be held January 6, 2011 at the George Washington University’s Jack Morton Auditorium.  More information, including how to register, is available at http://www.personalizedmedicinecoalition.org/events/cardiovascular2011.  

“PMC has organized a superb program with an impressive lineup of speakers and topics,” said Eric Topol, M.D., Director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute and Chief Academic Officer for Scripps Health.  “The discussions and exchange of ideas should help catapult individualized cardiovascular medicine forward – which is desperately needed!”

About the Personalized Medicine Coalition
The Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC), representing a broad spectrum of academic, industrial, patient, provider, and payer communities, seeks to advance the understanding and adoption of personalized medicine concepts and products for the benefit of patients. For more information on the Personalized Medicine Coalition, please visit www.PersonalizedMedicineCoalition.org.