Precision Medicine
September 18, 2023
While the bacteria in the intestine are helpful for digesting food and fighting infections, they have long been suspected to play an essential role in triggering rheumatoid arthritis. This chronic inflammatory disorder affects the joints. Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered a link between an abundance of specific gut bacteria and the triggering of an immune […]
September 12, 2023
New Mayo Clinic individualized medicine leader on a quest to bring cutting-edge medicine to all
By Susan Murphy 
As a pulmonologist and genomic scientist, Victor Ortega, M.D., Ph.D., is leading a charge to breathe new life into precision medicine advancements. His mission is rooted in a deep commitment to health equities and inspired by his grandmother. “My grandmother died of asthma, and that should not have happened. She was Puerto Rican like me, […]
Tags: Biomedical research, center for individualized medicine, Dr. Victor Ortega, genomic medicine
August 31, 2023
Mayo Clinic cancer researchers targeting racial disparities in genomic data
By Susan Murphy
Standing at the forefront of Mayo Clinic’s genomics advancements, Yan Asmann, Ph.D., and Aaron Mansfield, M.D. are working to tailor the diagnosis and treatment of certain cancers to a person’s unique genomic makeup. As a bioinformatician, Dr. Asmann is pursuing individualized therapeutic cancer vaccines that target a person’s distinctive tumor characteristics. Dr. Mansfield, a […]
Tags: Biomedical research, center for individualized medicine
August 24, 2023
Confronting polycystic kidney disease, a silent killer
By Susan Murphy
By Marla Broadfoot, Ph.D. When Fouad Chebib, M.D., was 16 years old, his father sat him and his sister down and told them he had polycystic kidney disease (PKD). The kidneys of people with the condition become jammed with dense, fluid-filled sacs, causing them to increase in size and decrease in function. His father’s kidneys were already failing, […]
August 16, 2023
By Susan Murphy
When Emery Diffendorfer was a baby, he couldn’t hold his head up or babble like other infants his age. His rare genetic disorder enlarged his tongue and head, and he had weakened muscle tone, brittle bones, sleep apnea, poor eyesight and persistent infections in his tonsils and adenoids. By six months old, the tiny Mayo […]
Tags: Biomedical research
August 10, 2023
Mayo Clinic ‘mini-brain’ study reveals possible key link to autism spectrum disorder
By Susan Murphy
Using human “mini-brain” models known as organoids, Mayo Clinic and Yale University scientists have discovered that the roots of autism spectrum disorder may be associated with an imbalance of specific neurons that play a critical role in how the brain communicates and functions. The specific cells are known as excitatory cortical neurons. The new study […]
Tags: Alexej Abyzov, autism, Biomedical research, center for individualized medicine, genomic medicine, organoids
August 1, 2023
2023 Gerstner Awardee’s ‘evolutionary therapy’ targets pancreatic cancer treatment resistance
By Susan Murphy
Ryan Carr, M.D., Ph.D., a medical oncologist in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Oncology, is a recipient of the 2023 Gerstner Family Career Development Award. The competitive awards are presented annually by Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine to researchers conducting innovative investigations to predict, prevent, treat and cure diseases using individualized medicine approaches. Dr. Carr […]
Tags: Biomedical research, center for individualized medicine, Pancreatic Cancer
August 1, 2023
2023 Gerstner Awardee to investigate individualized treatment strategy for follicular lymphoma
By Susan Murphy
Patrizia Mondello, M.D., Ph.D., M.Sc., a physician-scientist in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Hematology, is a recipient of the annual 2023 Gerstner Family Career Development Award from the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine. The competitive awards advance innovative research to predict, prevent, treat, and cure diseases using individualized medicine. Inspired by a 20-year-old woman named […]
Tags: Biomedical research, center for individualized medicine, genomic medicine
July 24, 2023
CAR-T cell therapy restores hope for leukemia patient
Jon Stahlecker had exhausted all treatment options and lost hope of surviving chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) before the Mayo Clinic offered him chimeric antigen receptor-T cell therapy (CAR-T cell therapy) in a clinical trial. “We got all our affairs in order. I was trying to see as many people and relatives as I could,” says Stahlecker. “We had bought land […]
Tags: #CAR T-cell therapy, center for individualized medicine, Center for Regenerative Medicine
July 21, 2023
In a pilot study of 165 people, Mayo Clinic researchers looked at the effectiveness of two different approaches to weight loss: a standard lifestyle intervention and individualized therapy. The standard lifestyle intervention included a reduced diet, exercise and behavior therapy. The individualized approach was based on phenotypes and included different interventions depending on the person’s […]
Tags: Biomedical research, center for individualized medicine, Dr. Andres Acosta, genomic medicine, mayo clinic