Precision Medicine and Genomics Center opens, targeting cancer and inherited disease

The Center for Precision Medicine and Genomics at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital officially opens from 3 August onwards, the mission it has would be to improve healthcare through the Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative (TPMI) and the cutting-edge medical AI. 

TPMI conducts research in the field of genomics translation and pharmacogenomics, promotes precision medicine alongside a consortium of 15 hospitals across Taiwan. TPMI is run by Taiwan’s leading research institute Academic Sinica, having been in operation since 2015.  

The centre will bring together personalised medicine, big data and artificial intelligence that can facilitate “precision treatment”, said Dr Wayne Huey-Herng Sheu, superintendent of the hospital. 

The center will be led by vice superintendent Wei-Ming Chen. He added that the first step is to recruit for a committee which promotes precision medicine, starting off with cross-departmental and cross-disciplinary operations for research. "What we have achieved in next-gen genetic sequencing and testing and genomics-based big data will be made applicable clinically," said Dr Chen. 

According to Chen, the center is preliminarily aimed at oncology- and inherited disease-related diagnosis and treatment, subsequently metabolic syndrome and neurological disorders, which will join forces with National Yang Ming Jiaotong University, Academia Sinica, National Health Research Institutes, department of pathology and department of Pediatrics.

Taipei Veterans General Hospital will also work with the Academia Sinica on Taiwan's biobank in which genetic profiles of patients and healthy adults will be kept for research.  

News compiled by IBMI; Source in Chinese: Taipei Veterans General Hospital