The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is awarding $18.9 million towards research aiming to accelerate the use of genome sequencing in clinical care. The new awards will verify that the genomic medicine can be applied to all individuals and groups including diverse and underserved populations.
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Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research (CSER2) Consortium is funding the research. CSER2 builds upon the Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research (CSER) Consortium that began in 2010.
“CSER’s initial goal was more exploratory in nature to see if we could, in fact, integrate genome sequencing into clinical care,” said Lucia Hindorff, Ph.D., M.P.H., a program director in NHGRI’s Division of Genomic Medicine. “The exploratory focus allowed each site to develop its own approach. Working together, CSER investigators were effective in identifying common challenges and opportunities for advancing this integration.”1
Patient recruitment and retainment
The new funding allows CSER2 investigators to continue the effort to generate evidence for the usefulness of genome sequencing in clinical care but with more focus on diverse and underserved individuals. In order to recruit and retain patients from diverse racial and ethnic groups for clinical trials, NHGRI and NCI have partnered with the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD).
The director of Clinical and Health Services Research at NIMHD, Regina Smith James, M.D. said, “Engaging patient populations that are traditionally underrepresented in genomics research, coupled with the inclusion of broader types of healthcare settings, will enrich the data that result from CSER2.”1
For Fiscal year 2017, CSER2 is awarding grants to 6 clinical sites and one coordinating center. All of the clinical sites are looking to recruit at least 60% of participants from diverse or underserved settings. Sites also look to include research that covers geographical areas from the racially diverse populations in Houston to Harlem and the Bronx in New York.
To see a complete list of the recipients of the awards click here.
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1 https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-accelerates-use-genomics-clinical-care