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McNamee. J Transl Genet Genom 2018;2:20 Journal of Translational
DOI: 10.20517/jtgg.2018.24 Genetics and Genomics

Opinion Open Access

Support for developing personalized genomic
medicine

Christine J. McNamee

Wolfson Centre for personalized Medicine, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L693GL, UK.
Correspondence to: Dr. Christine J. McNamee, Wolfson Centre for personalized Medicine, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L693GL,
UK. E-mail: cjmcn@liv.ac.uk

How to cite this article: McNamee CJ. Support for developing personalized genomic medicine. J Transl Genet Genom 2018;2:20.
https://doi.org/10.20517/jtgg.2018.24
Received: 8 Aug 2018 First Decision: 22 Oct 2018 Revised: 30 Oct 2018 Accepted: 30 Oct 2018 Published: 16 Dec 2018

Science Editor: Sheng-Ying Qin Copy Editor: Cui Yu Production Editor: Huan-Liang Wu

Abstract

This article discusses the benefits of personalized genomic medicine, some of the challenges of adoption into the clinic,
and provides examples of UK and European projects that are developing the practice of personalized genomic medicine.
It highlights the work of the UK Pharmacogenetics and Stratified Medicine Network in providing information, developing
multidisciplinary collaborations, and organizing events, to support the advancement of personalized genomic medicine.

Keywords: Pharmacogenetics, personalized medicine, genomics, drug development, safety

INTRODUCTION
Traditionally the signs and symptoms of disease determined a patient’s treatment, but recent advances in
new sequencing technologies, and novel diagnostic techniques, allow clinicians to use genomic data to both
[1]
diagnose sub-types of disease and predict how each patient will react to a particular drug . Personalized/
[2]
precision genomic medicine, also described as stratified /P4 (predictive, preventive, personalized and par-
ticipatory) medicine , uses the patient’s genomic profile to stratify patients into groups (based on their sub-
[3]
type of disease and response to drug therapies) then offers each group precise treatment, personalized to the
genomic profile of the group. P4 medicine describes how personalized genomic medicine not only predicts
patient response to treatment but also predicts their disease risk so they may participate in preventative
treatment to reduce the risk.

Genomic personalized medicine enables physicians to offer their patients the most effective drug, at the cor-
rect dose, in the right combination with their other medications, from the onset of treatment, to improve

© The Author(s) 2018. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made.

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