TAMPA Imagine being able to use a person's unique genetic code to find the right treatment for heart failure, asthma or even the dreaded common cold. <\/p>\n
That's the focus of Dr. Stephen Liggett, one of the newest additions to the University of South Florida's Morsani College of Medicine. <\/p>\n
Liggett, 57, began work earlier this month as director of the USF Health Personalized Medicine Institute. He is a national leader in the emerging field, and has attracted millions in research dollars from the National Institutes of Health. <\/p>\n
One of his first orders of business will be to collaborate with Dr. Leslie Miller, head of the USF Health Heart Institute, which this spring received $8.9 million in state and county funding to begin developing genomics-based personalized approaches to cardiovascular care. <\/p>\n
Liggett comes to USF from the University of Maryland, where he was a professor of medicine and physiology and director of its cardiopulmonary genomics program. <\/p>\n
We caught up with Liggett during his first week on the job: <\/p>\n
What is personalized medicine? <\/p>\n
It's the use of information obtained from an individual's genetic code, or genome, to tailor their medical care. There are three areas where genomic information is particularly useful: <\/p>\n
The prediction of whether a person is at risk for developing a disease. <\/p>\n
The ability to predict the course, or degree of severity, of a disease in patients. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Read more:<\/p>\n
National leader in personalized medicine heads new institute at USF Health<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" TAMPA Imagine being able to use a person's unique genetic code to find the right treatment for heart failure, asthma or even the dreaded common cold. Continue reading