Precision medicine therapies are designed to consider individual patient variability — differences in genetics, environments and lifestyles. St. Jude researchers are pioneering precision therapies for pediatric cancer patients, beginning with a focus on next-generation genome sequencing, cancer predisposition and pharmacogenomics. Risk assessment is one of the basic components of precision medicine in which practitioners stratify patients into different molecular groups based on their genetics, which can influence treatment.
Learn more about precision medicine and other research to assess cancer risk at St. Jude.
To schedule an interview, email media@stjude.org.
Precision Medicine and Risk Assessment Experts
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Charles Mullighan, MBBS, MSc, MD, St. Jude Department of Pathology, is medical director of the St. Jude Biorepository. His research uses integrated genomic, epigenomic and experimental approaches to understand acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and related disorders. He has led landmark studies that have defined the inherited and somatic genetic alterations in ALL. Mullighan can provide considerable insight into findings that have led to genomically informed diagnostic approaches and multiple clinical trials testing precision medicine approaches.
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Kim E. Nichols, MD
Nichols
Kim Nichols, MD, St. Jude Department of Oncology, Cancer Predisposition Division director, is an expert on genetic predisposition. She studies the molecular mechanisms that protect against viral infections and cancer to learn how defects in these mechanisms contribute to disease. She uses this information to develop more effective treatments for children with increased genetic risk for infection or malignancy. She led the landmark Genomes4Kids study at St. Jude and continues to lead clinical studies on disorders such as Langerhans cell histiocytosis and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. Nichols can also provide information on the psychological and behavioral impacts of cancer genetic testing on parents and their children.
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Jun J. Yang, PhD
Yang
Jun J. Yang, PhD, St. Jude Departments of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Oncology, uses pharmacogenomics to identify new therapies for pediatric leukemia. Yang leverages genetic insights to identify ways to improve leukemia therapy. His work has identified subgroups of patients for whom standard therapies will be ineffective and conversely highlighted other groups for whom novel treatments may provide a better treatment option. His work sheds light on how different patients with the same diagnosis can respond differently to the same drug. He can speak on the importance of diversity in research and the impact of genetic differences on drug development for ALL.
