VA Forms Committee to Advise on Genomic Medicine

WASHINGTON – Continuing the leadership role of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in medical research benefiting all Americans, the Honorable R. James Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, today announced formation of a committee of internationally recognized scientists and veterans’ advocates to advise the Department on emerging issues in genomic medicine.

The new Genomic Medicine Program Advisory Committee will help the Department establish policies for using genetic information to optimize medical care of veterans and to enhance development of tests and treatments for diseases particularly relevant to veterans.

“As medical practice incorporates the advances of science, we must harness VA’s triple mission of health care, research and training to bring these advances to the veterans we serve,” Nicholson said.  “Part of the job of these respected advisors is to help us push forward, but to do so thoughtfully and compassionately, mindful of ethical and privacy issues.”

The nine-member committee will be chaired by Dr. Wayne W. Grody, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles.  The committee is expected to meet up to three times annually, but its first meeting has not yet been scheduled.

“VA is moving to a model of care in which care is tailored specifically to the needs and challenges of individual patients,” said Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin, VA’s Under Secretary for Health. “Genomic medicine will help us move from providing medicine that is preventative to medicine that is predictive.”

The committee is being asked to recommend policies to gather and use both genetic and other medical information for medical care and research.  In this regard, it will help lay the groundwork for future development of a comprehensive genomic medicine program for VA.

Genomic Medicine Program Advisory Committee Membership

·         Wayne W. Grody, M.D., PhD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).  He also directs the UCLA Molecular Pathology Laboratory.

·         Mouin J. Khoury, M.D., director of the Center for Disease Control’s Office of Genomics and Disease Prevention in the Department of Health and Human Services.

·         Francis Collins, M.D., PhD, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, where he oversees the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium.

·         Michael S. Watson, PhD, executive director of the American College of Medical Genetics.  He also is an adjunct professor of pediatrics at Washington University in St. Louis.

·         Col. Brion C. Smith, U.S. Army Dental Corps, director of the Department of Defense DNA Registry and DNA Identification Laboratory.

·         Annette K. Taylor, PhD, president, laboratory director and sole owner of Kimball Genetics of Denver.

·         Wylie Burke, M.D., PhD, professor and chair, Department of Medical History and Ethics at the University of Washington.  She is also an adjunct professor of medicine and epidemiology and an associate member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

·         Margaret McGovern, M.D., PhD, professor in human genetics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

·         David Gorman, executive director of the Disabled American Veterans Washington Headquarters.

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