NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, Moffitt Cancer Center, and Florida Hospital have banded together to launch a partnership that will use molecular and genomic tools to develop new treatments for cancer and metabolic diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
The partners said today that the new Personalized Medicine Partnership of Florida aims to develop new technologies to discover and translate personalized interventions for preventing and treating diseases.
The partnership will engage Sanford-Burnham's research expertise and genomics and metabolomics technologies, Moffitt's biospecimen bank, data warehouse, and genome mapping capabilities, and Florida Hospital's patient population and clinical research capacities.
A particular focus for PMP Florida will be to use Moffitt's Total Cancer Care, a treatment program that involves the mapping of more than 30,000 genes in a tumor and then using that data to develop individual therapies that also include other medical, nutritional, and psychological considerations.
"Sanford-Burnham will deploy our most advanced technologies to discover molecular signatures of disease that can provide insight for determining appropriate therapeutic interventions," Sanford-Burnham CEO John Reed said in a statement. "The technology platforms, collections of patient samples, and medical information sharing create a powerful combination for improving clinical outcomes and reducing health care costs."
Florida Hospital Senior VP and CMO David Moorhead said that the partners have "very complementary areas of expertise and experience."
"Together, our organizations will have the potential to quickly and successfully advance the scientific development and availability of personalized medicine and to benefit the economic development of our communities," he added.
PMP Florida also seeks to attract industry clients from the pharmaceutical and biotech sector who will use the partnership to discover and develop new healthcare advances.
One of the objectives of the partnership is to attract industry clients, including pharmaceutical and biotech companies, who will want to utilize this unique resource for discovery and development of new advances in health care. This partnership will exemplify how personalized medicine discoveries made in research labs will improve health care in hospitals, clinics, and medical offices in Florida and nationally.