NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The University of Colorado School of Medicine will use a $2.2 million federal grant to add new tools to a personalized medicine program it runs with six hospitals and health care organizations and partnerships in Colorado, the school said this week.
The funding from the National Institutes of Health will be used to buy a next-generation DNA sequencer and a PET-CT scanner for use in the Colorado Clinical & Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI), which is focused on translating research discoveries into "improved diagnostics, treatments, and preventive and lifestyle interventions," according to the university.
The school said that the sequencer will trim the time, cost, and staff that is required to conduct human genome sequencing research, enabling the sequencing of a human genome for around $10,000 in about one week and only requiring around three people to do the work.
"In the big picture, this grant furthers our ability to accelerate the pace with which we can bring new discoveries to improve the health and lives of people in Colorado," Ronald Sokol, director and principal investigator of the CCTSI, said in a statement. "As an organization focused on putting science to work for patients, we are not only a medical school resource but also a Colorado resource."