Pathology

Biography

Biography: Richard Y Zhao

Abstract

Advances in human genome analysis, OMICS science and big data analysis continue to make inroads for molecular pathology to assist in personalized medicine. Through proper analytical and clinical validation, many of those newly discovered biomarkers such as SNPs/SNVs and INDELs that are associated with specific diseases or responses to various drug therapies, could be used to develop new molecular diagnostic tests for prediction, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of various diseases. Since these molecular-based testing can be used to assess individual’s genetic variability and probability for onset of certain diseases or responses to various drug therapies, customized treatment plan or therapies could be designed specifically for each individual patient. As more and more medical professionals realize the benefits of being able to use these useful molecular pathology tools for precision medicine, personalized patient care through individualized molecular pathology testing is no longer a future perspective but rather a reality in many of the major medical centers in the United States including the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Medical Center. There is no doubt that individualized molecular testing will soon become a routine clinical practice for personalized patient care world-wide. However, successful transition of such a paradigm shift from traditional medicine to personalized medicine requires integrated and concerted effort from all allied medical professionals. Education and continued education of healthcare administrators, physicians, medical practitioners and laboratory personnel on the pharmacogenomic testing and associated patient care are among the essential steps for successful transition and implementation of personalized medicine. This lecture will introduce some of the key factors associated with this paradigm shift from current medicine to personalized medicine, review different categories of pharmacogenomic testing that are designed for personalized healthcare. Specific case reports will be presented drawn from our own experiences on how individualized molecular testing has helped us in our clinical practice and personalized patient care. Future perspectives on this exciting new area of molecular pathology and medicine will also be discussed.