Twenty years ago, if only one person out of hundreds went into remission during a clinical trial for a cancer drug, that patient would have been considered just plain lucky and the therapy deemed a failure. But today, with a host of tools garnered from precision medicine, one person’s “good luck” can be leveraged into a precise and effective therapy for countless others whose tumors have a similar genetic profile.

Precision medicine explores the interplay of all aspects of human health, including not just genetics, but also environment, behavior, and lifestyle. Multiple layers of population information are entered into technological tools that have the unprecedented power to distill worldwide data down to a solution for just one person.

In late 2011, a National Academy of Sciences committee passionately endorsed precision medicine as the best means to explore the cause, development, cure, and prevention of the world’s most daunting illnesses. Its co-chair was UC San Francisco Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, a resident alumna.

Watch Jeffrey Bluestone, PhD, executive vice chancellor and provost, discuss how UCSF is driving the field of precision medicine.

UCSF stands among the global leaders working to move this nascent field forward. The institution's six-pillar platform of methods, tools, and resources will support precision medicine efforts everywhere. Our experts across all disciplines are giving new hope to billions of patients, one by one, around the world. Read on to find out how.

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Science

It’s All About Networking

Pillar No. 1: Knowledge Network

With an increased ability to harvest information automatically and more powerfully, scientists can find the connections among discoveries that would otherwise go unrecognized.
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Science

Digging Deeper Into Cancer

Pillar No. 2: Basic Discovery

The long path to developing potent new treatments often starts with an observation in the lab that then leads to a question about a fundamental life process.
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Health

Big Data, Tailored Care

Pillar No. 3: Clinical Discovery

Researchers are taking vast amounts of patient data, often collected through first-ever clinical studies, and putting it into tools like MS Bioscreen that have a direct impact on patient care.
Illustration of silhouettes of a diverse groups of people in a line.

Science

The Fabric of Disease

Pillar No. 4: Computational Health Sciences

Computationally intensive approaches are used to analyze and cross-analyze large but discrete collections of data, such as patient health histories and genetic makeup.
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Science

The Gene Machine

Pillar No. 5: Omics Medicine

Molecular biologist Nevan Krogan’s work is not only illuminating how genes and proteins function, it’s also shedding light on the underlying biology of disease for each person – a central goal of “-omics” medicine.
Illustration of intertwining circles with silhouettes of a diverse groups of people on one circle.

Health

A Digital Path to Health

Pillar No. 6: Digital Health

The Center for Digital Health Innovation shepherds the development of digital health innovations created at UCSF and validates the effectiveness of devices from both inside and outside the institution.
Cover of UCSF Magazine: left corner reads “UCSF Magazine, Fall 2013”. Illustration of circular data points with people representing data. Text next to photo reads: “The Promise of Emerges: Harnessing data to personalize care”. Text below photo reads: “Precision Medicine Special Issue”

UCSF Magazine

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