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Chan Soon-Shiong Institute, U of Oxford to Create Genomics Institute in UK

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The Chan Soon-Shiong Institute for Molecular Medicine is teaming up with the University of Oxford to form a new institute in the UK that will support individualized, data-driven molecular medicine for cancer patients.

The Chan Soon-Shiong Institute is pumping an initial $50 million into the institute, the Chan Soon-Shiong Oxford Center for Molecular Medicine (CSSOCMM).

The new center aims to provide physicians with genomic, epigenomic, proteomic, and digital pathology data capture, as well as novel tools and super-computing technology that will aid in cancer therapy selection. The CSSOCMM will work closely with the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, the partners said, and will be co-located with the new Precision Cancer Medicine Institute, where clinical applications of its research will take place.

In addition, the CSSOCMM will receive a $35 million grant to support the use of next-generation patient information systems that will be needed to support the acquisition and usage of high-quality sequencing data.

"Using the most advanced, sophisticated tools imaginable, we're on a mission to solve the mystery of cancer, and establish an adaptive learning system where the power of one can inform many," Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder and chairman of the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute for Molecular Medicine, which was launched earlier this month and is based in Los Angeles. "The infrastructure to manage big data must be established to enable a national network of clinical scientists in the UK, and a portion of the $50M commitment will be used to fund the capital needs to ensure that patients throughout England could benefit from this genomic platform, with the remaining $35M provided to support the operations of the Chan Soon-Shiong Oxford Center for Molecular Medicine at Oxford."

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