Knox's Blog

Imagine receiving the news no one ever wants to hear – you have cancer. Fortunately, this is quickly followed by more hopeful news. Because they have your individual genetic data, they are able to precisely pinpoint the perfect preventative treatment and your outcome is significantly improved.

This isn’t a future dream, this is now!

Most everyone I know has lost loved ones due to cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and a host of other illnesses. This takes an emotional toll, creates financial concerns and is an overall time and energy drain on our daily lives. Several years back I was diagnosed with cancer, so you can imagine my joy at having beat it and my excitement that maybe one day, many such illnesses will be relegated to the history books.

I’m writing about this now because several people have asked me why genomics? Why now? And why Inova?

Inova has always been focused on improving the lives of those in our community and we’ve always been a leader in the industry. We also are blessed to serve a very diverse community. It is for these reasons we are able to have John Niederhuber, MD leading the way. Dr. Niederhuber, a nationally renowned surgeon and researcher, brings a lifetime of medical knowledge and vision to Inova.

In just ten months the Inova Translational Medicine Institute (ITMI) has sequenced the genomes of 1,500 subjects. In the past, studies have been done in more affluent populations, so the data was limited. By having access to such a diverse population we are able to include many different cultures and share this data with other researchers and institutes. We can target specific health needs so that we will provide the right treatment for the right patient at the right time. By being proactive, we can significantly optimize your health, my health and the health of our patients. And it doesn’t get much better then that!