Successful implementation of precision medicine at a national level
In Sweden, the key to the successful implementation of precision medicine in healthcare has been the bottom-up approach where academia and healthcare have joined forces to build a national infrastructure. 42 authors from the Clinical Genomics platform at SciLifeLab and Genomic Medicine Sweden, GMS, summarizes the work in Nature Medicine.
Together, Clinical Genomics and GMS have established an innovative framework for continuously developing, adapting and implementing precision medicine in healthcare – for all patients. At the seven locations in Sweden with a faculty of medicine and regional healthcare provider with university hospital care both Clinical Genomics and GMS have established nodes to facilitate the development and optimization of new technologies and methods and their introduction into healthcare throughout the country.
“It is thanks to the great commitment of all enthusiasts around Sweden that we have been able to establish a national infrastructure for precision medicine. We are now observing how whole-genome sequencing and other broad genetic analyses are used more and more in healthcare, with increased opportunities for targeted treatment and follow-up,” says Richard Rosenquist Brandell, director of GMS, Professor at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, and senior consultant at Karolinska University Hospital.
Clinical Genomics and GMS have together with the healthcare system implemented whole-genome sequencing in the clinic for rare diseases. Similar projects are also underway in childhood cancer and leukemias. The infrastructures have jointly developed a number of national broad gene panels for cancer diagnostics that also contain pharmacogenes for dose adjustment. Other focus areas are whole-genome analyses for various infectious diseases and pandemic preparedness.
Read the full news article on Genomic Medicine Sweden's website Successful implementation of precision medicine at a national level.
Publication
Implementing precision medicine in a regionally organized healthcare system in Sweden. Thoas Fioretos, Valtteri Wirta, Lucia Cavelier, Eva Berglund, Mikaela Friedman, Michael Akhras, Johan Botling, Hans Ehrencrona, Lars Engstrand, Gisela Helenius, Therese Fagerqvist, David Gisselsson, Sofia Gruvberger-Saal, Ulf Gyllensten, Markus Heidenblad, Kina Höglund, Bo Jacobsson, Maria Johansson, Åsa Johansson, Maria Johansson Soller, Maréne Landström, Pär Larsson, Lars-Åke Levin, Anna Lindstrand, Lovisa Lovmar, Anna Lyander, Malin Melin, Ann Nordgren, Gunnel Nordmark , Paula Mölling, Lars Palmqvist, Richard Palmqvist, Dirk Repsilber, Per Sikora, Bianca Stenmark, Peter Söderqvist, Henrik Stranneheim, Tobias Strid, Craig E. Wheelock, Mia Wadelius, Anna Wedell, Anders Edsjö, Richard Rosenquist. Nature Medicine, online 19 september, 2022, doi:10.1038/s41591-022-01963-4