How do you embrace personalized medicine? Knowledge is the key

Sanna Paakkonen

Expert Insight

How do you embrace personalized medicine? Knowledge is the key

By Sanna Paakkonen

Big data is already big news in personalized medicine (PM), particularly in a field such as oncology, which has embraced the concept for over a decade. A recent Asco Post article, Understanding of Big Data and Personalized Medicine, looked at the ongoing revolution but also pointed out that public awareness was only just being raised following the announcement of President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative.

Consumers have now started to embrace personalized medicine in oncology. But what about other stakeholders in personalized medicine, are they really embracing PM in or outside oncology? What we have learned in the past year alone is that recognized stakeholder knowledge gaps in understanding of personalized medicine are not closing fast enough to keep up with this revolution in data and informatics (ref to EPEMED 2014 webinar series http://www.epemed.org/online/www/content/87/188/ENG/index.html#ribbon).

So how do we keep up and keep on track with the changes? Big data is one thing and a hot topic on its own, but what about our basic understanding of the key lessons learnt so far in the decade when oncolo-gy and personalized medicine has moved so quickly? Can we jump to big data and fully embrace it if we have not leveraged our knowledge from past experiences?

Integrating new knowledge into our existing understanding demands we have information and resources at our fingertips. Some recent initiatives are starting to pull this together by creating a base to build on. One such development is the recent launch of the Iceutics website, open access source for personalized medicine content.

Iceutics is a division of Diaceutics Group providing pharma and diagnostic executives with open source access to many of its expert resources for personalized medicine. Iceutics has deep evidence-based insights into the workings of personalized medicine that are designed to help pharma and diagnostic executives consistently deliver a superior return on their industry invest-ments. These insights are critical in planning and implementing both targeted therapies and related diag-nostics, from early development to commercial management. The resources will also provide valuable background information for anyone interested in the develop-ment of personalized medicine. You can access the site and content at www.iceutics.com.

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