Precision medicine across a range of diseases now equips clinicians to tailor treatment options to patients’ specific genomic and molecular profiles with the help of new technologies such as next-generation sequencing. However, developing the evidence and science to power precision medicine requires scientific exploration and validation using data that in many cases is as personal as it gets, including genomic DNA and RNA sequences that are as unique as fingerprints and difficult to make truly “anonymous.” How do we find a balance among advancing research, developing new treatments for difficult-to-treat diseases, maintaining patient privacy, and honoring patient ownership or control of sensitive data? Join experts representing policy, patient, biopharma, and other points of view moderated by Alice Crisci, CEO of MedAnswers, who is also a leader in understanding the potential commercialization issues surrounding sensitive health data and has long been a patient advocate herself.
Session Host
Alice Crisci, CEO of MedAnswers
Alice Crisci is a cancer survivor, entrepreneur and activist. She founded Ovum Medical as a science and technology company to solve health care problems through technology. Their first product MedAnswers helps infertile people in crisis connect with the specialist they need. She also founded the oncofertility charity, Fertile Action, three weeksinto her breast cancer diagnosis at 31-years-old. She co-sponsored the first fertility preservation bill in the country and oversees the prospective regulatory changes across the country in reproductive medicine. She has regulatory relationships across multiple sectors and within both the US Congress and California Legislature. She is a strategic advisor to other start-ups in the health tech space including oncology companies, genomics ventures and educational institutions. She is the ecstatic mom of a fertility preservation miracle.
Session Participants
Elissa Prichep, Precision Medicine Lead, World Economic Forum
Elissa spent the past 12 years launching specialty therapeutics and initiatives in the bio-pharmaceutical industry and developing economic policy in the public sector. She most recently lead patient strategy and digital innovation for biosimilar immunology products at Merck, brought their ground-breaking immunotherapy cancer treatment to market and developed their first 24/7 patient support program. Elissa earned her MBA as a Woodruff Fellow at Emory University and her B.A. from Cornell University.
Robert Groves, MD, Executive VP and Chief Medical Officer, Aetna/Banner
As Vice President of Health Management, Banner Health and Chief Medical Officer, Banner Health Network, Dr. Groves is responsible for physician leadership in population health management. He’s also responsible for delivering on clinical performance and utilization management in the volume to value transition. Dr. Groves earned his M.D. degree from the Medical College of Georgia. He completed Internal Medicine training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He also completed fellowships in Critical Care Medicine and Pulmonary Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Anthony Joseph, PhD, Co-Founder of Unite Genomics and Professor, UC Berkeley
Anthony Joseph, PhD, is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Unite Genomics, where he is a passionate champion for applying science and technology to cure rare diseases. He is also a Chancellor’s Professor at UC Berkeley. His academic research interests are in Genomics, Secure Machine Learning, Datacenters, mobile/distributed computing, and wireless communications (networking and telephony).
Brad Wilson, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, IndyGeneUS AI
Brad is a geneticist by training and our expert on Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS). He has a history of health disparities and pharmacogenetic research and STEM education.