population screening

There’s no overstating how far we have come since 2000 in the fledgling science of genomics, but at times it has seemed that our ability to amass information has far outstripped our ability to make that information matter by improving healthcare. As extraordinary as the technology is, it cannot get it out of the computer and into clinical practice. Enter Eimear Kenny and Noura Abul-Husn, respectively Founding Director and Clinical Director of the Institute for Genomic Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. Together, Eimear and Noura have turned their personal friendship and shared goals into translational genomics incarnate.

Heather Hampel, one of the pioneer genetic counselors in the realm of cancer counseling, has been leading the charge on Lynch syndrome screening for over 20 years. Whatever your leadership metrics, Heather ticks them: multiple publications, past president of ABGC, PI of the Ohio Colorectal Cancer Prevention, Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and Associate Director of the Division of Human Genetics at the Ohio State University.

She’s here today to talk about how we’re faring in screening for inherited cancer susceptibility syndromes and the word is… we have work left to do!

Color Genomics burst on the scene in 2015, offering breast cancer susceptibility testing at a fraction of the price of other laboratories.

From the beginning, it was clear that their goal was to scale the availability of genetic testing – including genetic counseling. This approach has drawn some skepticism and it has also drawn some competitors. Their experience with scaling the return of results, says VP of Research and Scientific Affairs Alicia Zhou, seemed like a natural fit with the aims of All of Us, the population screening program funded by the US government. The NIH apparently agreed, giving Color the contract to build out an infrastructure for genetic counseling as All of Us begins its 10-year process of giving back results to participants.

Alicia joins us on the Beagle to discuss Color’s core business ($50 cascade screening? Is that… sustainable?) and some of the new challenges and whether or not they’re hiring…