Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/518124
54 Doing Business in Connecticut | 2015 Health & BioPharma INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT › W hen Angelina Jolie tested posi- tive for the BRCA1 gene and went public with her decision to get a preventative double mastectomy, and this spring, to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed, patients peppered their doc- tors with questions about genetic testing. Today, 12 years aer completion of the human genome sequencing, doctors are apply- ing scientific discoveries to identify the genetic "misspelling" causing cancer and other dis- eases, and striving to select the right treatment. e researchers at e Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in Farmington say the next decade will be transformative, as genomic medicine shis from the research arena with limited clinical applications of personalized medicine — such as testing for the BRCA gene — to widespread use of personal- ized medicine as the standard of care in medical practice. e change will be gradual rather than immediate because doctors will be reluctant to try new treatments based on genetic testing unless treatments with proven success fail to produce results, a Jackson Lab researcher predicts. Personalized medicine, also known as genomic medicine, is on the cusp of an explosion, and Connecticut is poised to be a leader, said researcher George Weinstock, Ph.D., professor and associate director for microbial genomics at Jackson Lab. "Connecticut has kind of a legacy in this area," he said. Con- necticut was "extremely enlight- ened" to bring genomic research to existing institutions while also building a framework to attract new biomedical companies, he added. "e timing couldn't be bet- ter. When these developments hit, Connecticut is going to be in a much better position to catch that wave and help its citizens." Even before it opened its new 183,500-square-foot laboratory building beside John Dempsey Hospital in October 2014, Jackson Lab's researchers were im- mersed in partnerships with faculty from Yale University and UConn, and doctors from Connecticut Children's Medical Center. "Prior to that, even spread out in five different buildings, last year, we produced 58 peer-reviewed journal articles in major medical publications," said Kathleen Adams, director of clinical services business develop- ment at Jackson Lab. Genomic Medicine Applied Personalized medicine is already being used to treat patients with breast, lung and colorectal cancers, as well as melanoma and leukemia; as part of patient care, they receive molecular testing, allowing clinicians to improve patients' odds of survival rates. "Every patient is an individual and every patient has unique manifestations of their disease and variations on how the disease affects them," said omas J. Balcezak, M.D., chief of staff at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Here's how it works: When a biopsy shows what type of cancer a patient has, scientists can now sequence the genome of the tumor cells and the normal cells in the same person and determine where the mutations have occurred — where the genes have gone bad. Oncolo- gists can then use this information to prescribe medicines that can block these "bad" genes and A New Twist on Personal Health Connecticut advances in genomic research poised to fuel "explosion" in personalized medicine Researchers at the new Jackson Laboratory building on the UConn Health campus in Farmington are working to advance genomic, or personalized, medicine. PHOTO/THE JACKSON LABORATORY