Support Services
Infrastructure to support the mission of STSI
In this section
Scripps Genomic Medicine
Scripps Genomic Medicine
(left to right)
- Nicholas Schork, Ph.D. - Director of Research
- Eric Topol, M.D. - Director
- Sarah Shaw Murray, Ph.D. - Director of Genetics
- Samuel Levy, Ph.D. - Director of Genome Sciences
We are each unique, yet we are limited by a majority approach to health care. While we share similarities in 99% of our genomic profile, only 1% makes us different. With all good intentions, medications are developed for the masses, joint replacements are created based on average needs, medical treatments are determined by overall outcomes, and clinical trials are randomized. This "treatment for the masses" exposes all of us to a myriad of unnecessary (and potentially costly) side effects.
Genetic information can be used to identify and better define the genes that influence disease. With an 80-year history of medical research and clinical care, Scripps is developing a genomics and translational research program to change the status-quo and help shape the future of medicine as we know it. The ability to read a person's specific gene set (genome) already exists. Unfortunately, what the health care community still lacks is the skill and knowledge to effectively use a person's specific genomic information to improve patient care and disease prevention.
To bridge the gap between genomic discovery, translation and treatment of disease, Scripps Health invested millions to establish the Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) in 2007, which includes the Scripps Genomic Medicine program. Since cancer accounts for one in four deaths annually in the U.S. and cardiovascular disease is the nation's leading killer, much of our research is influenced to improve care and find cures for these particular devastating diseases. Eric J. Topol, MD, one of the premier cardiologists and physician/scientists in the world was recruited to lead the academic research programs. Dr. Topol was recently named a "Doctor of the Decade" by the Institute for Scientific Information for being one of the top 10 most cited researchers in medicine.
We are pleased that The National Institutes of Health has awarded STSI, a collaborative of nine institutions, a $20 million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). STSI is one of 55 research centers in the nation to receive this prestigious honor (CTSAs by state), the first in Southern California, and the first program not affiliated with a university to ever secure this type of funding. This grant adds significant momentum to our work. Our focus is on moving discoveries from laboratory benches to patient bedsides in the safest, most efficient and most effective way possible. In addition to Dr. Topol, an elite group of distinguished researchers has been assembled to spearhead these studies in genomic medicine:
With more than 20,000 genes covering 3.1 billion coding letters in each of our genomes, identifying which marker on which gene on what chromosome impacts a specific disease becomes as much a matter of luck than of skill. Our goal is to narrow down the list of which genes and markers are worth looking at and why in each individual, thereby defining the genes that underlie susceptibility to disease. We hope that learning more about how one person's genome may make them more susceptible than another to a given disease will then translate into clinical research, drug discovery programs, and gene-specific individualized patient trials.
