Throughout the medical community, widespread speculation supports the notion that the future of health care lies in the emerging field of genomic medicine.
The recent formation of the Duke Center of Genomic medicine, incorporated under the umbrella of the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, will be uniquely positioned to take advantage of Duke's existing strengths in genomic research and system-wide focus on personalized medicine.
If the leaders of the IGSP can successfully integrate the research being conducted at the Institute's five other genomics centers--the Center for Genome Technology, the Center for Genome Ethics, Law and Policy, the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology and the Center for Models of Human Disease--the University Health System should become one of the nation's leading sources of personalized health care models.
While a spirit of optimism is pervasive and well-deserved, the IGSP faces several obstacles along the path towards a sustainable model of genomics-based health care. Foremost, researchers freely admit that the transition from laboratory experimentation to first-person patient care is a dubious one that will most likely span decades if not longer.
Furthermore, applicable genomics health care procedures are the result of the combination of a multitude of varied projects based in each of the IGSP's five different subcenters, as well trials conducted at the Duke Hospital and throughout the rest of the Duke Health System. Such efforts will require sustained collaboration between all parties involved--no small task given the size of the Duke Health System and the specialization entailed in genomics.
To this end, IGSP Director Huntington Willard must continue to focus his energy on emphasizing inter-disciplinary dialogue and collaboration. Also paramount will be the selection of a director for the Center for Genomic Medicine. The search is currently ongoing, but in the wake of the appointments of University President-elect Richard Brodhead and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences George McLendon, the University should make the selection of a CGM director one of its top priorities.
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