Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Access in Genomics
Overview
The future of medicine rests on a foundation of genomics. Yet there is vast disparity in human representation in genomic databases which underpins much of today’s scientific and clinical research, and enables discoveries driving precision medicine. Historically marginalized communities and those of lower socioeconomic status are most significantly underrepresented. This inequity impedes the ability to deliver the promise of personalized medicine healthcare to those who may need it most. Future research populations must be more representative of the rich diversity of global populations.
Program Goal
To exponentially increase the opportunity for underrepresented groups to participate in the holistic benefits of precision medicine healthcare, specifically by:
- Establishing local access to healthcare clinics providing state-of-the-art precision medicine,
- Leveraging proven testing modalities, advanced tools, and methods for individual care, with a keen focus on prediction, prevention, diagnosis, and early treatment of disease
- Ensuring ethical and appropriate biomedical research, and
- Instituting rightful ownership of resulting discoveries and data
Expected Benefits
- Significantly improved healthcare outcomes
We would expect to identify health issues at earliest stages (cancer, aneurisms, fatty liver disease/pre-diabetes, etc.) from which better and more targeted interventions are possible. - A greater understanding of health and disease unique to these communities
The analysis will include tools that will build population references of measures, including genomic variant frequencies. These references will help identify abnormalities that are unique to each population, which will assist in the development of diagnostics and therapeutics specific to population needs.
Strategy and Approach
We will embark on a mission to establish common methodologies, testing modalities and shared resource expertise, help catalyze the cost-efficient launch of multiple healthcare hubs in various remote locals, as determined by community/partner engagement and the availability of funding.