Issue #8
Building the Brains of Precision Medicine
UCSF Magazine published an in-depth Q & A piece with Keith Yamamoto, PhD, Director of Precision Medicine and Vice Chancellor of Science Policy and Strategy, on the SPOKE Knowledge Network.
Precision Medicine in Action
Obstacles to Covering Precision Medicine Multicancer Screenings
The Health Affairs summary was based on an article by Kathryn Phillips, PhD, Director of TRANSPERS, Patricia A. Deverka and Michael P. Douglas.

The California Legislature is considering two bills on Precision Medicine: One (SB 912) on insurer coverage for biomarker testing and one (SB-1191) on coverage of pharmacogenomics testing. Phillips is working with legislative staff to provide expert analysis on these bills.
Molecular Profiling Advances Diagnosis, Treatment of Skin Diseases
This new framework will help diagnose challenging rashes worldwide - this successful “precision medicine” approach is based on analysis of activity of thousands of genes within individual immune cells, profiling 41 different cell types per patient. Read article
Genomic Sequencing Is Changing Diagnosis, Treatment for Patients with Brain Cancer
UCSF study shows aggressive therapy is best for deadly tumor masquerading as lower-grade Glioma. Senior author David Solomon, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the UCSF Department of Pathology is also the principal investigator of the UCSF Glioblastoma Precision Medicine Program. Read article
Get involved with UCSF AI4ALL
UCSF AI4ALL (ai4all.ucsf.edu) is looking for people to help this year as lecturers, TA's, and more! UCSF AI4ALL's overall aim is to nurture diversity and inclusion in AI by teaching AI to high school students from underrepresented groups, focusing on AI for biomedical applications. 3-week program will be held VIRTUALLY between Monday, July 11 and Friday, July 29. If interested, complete the online form or message questions to Co-Director Tomiko Oskotsky, MD: [email protected]. News about the program from 2019
Honors & Awards
Keith Yamamoto President-Elect of the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS) - the largest multidisciplinary scientific society in the world! Yamamoto will focus on diversity, equity and inclusion; continued support for basic science; and developing STEM education to improve the public’s ability to understand science and evaluate the ethical implications of new technology.
The American Medical Association has selected Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, MD, MPH, MAS, as the new editor-in-chief of JAMA and JAMA Network™! Bibbins-Domingo will maintain her faculty appointment at UCSF. She co-founded the Center for Vulnerable populations and will step down as inaugural Vice Dean for Population Health and Health Equity and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Bibbins-Domingo developed an organizational strategy for integrating population health and health equity into all facets of the SOM academic mission. See UCSF SOM Article & Read AMA announcement
Updates
Ben Rubin, PhD, Named Associate Director of UCSF Precision Medicine
Rubin formerly split his time as the Director of Industry Partnerships for the Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute (BCHSI), while with UCSF Precision Medicine.
Nooshin Latour, MA, Joins the Office of Science Policy & Strategy / Precision Medicine as Communications Strategist
Latour also oversees communications for the Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute. She was previously with the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and School of Dentistry.
Events
May 19, 2022
Personalized Medicine Conference, Laguna Niguel, CA.
June 28-30, 2022
Join us and your UCSF colleagues in-person (25+ UCSF speakers)! The Precision Medicine World Conference in Santa Clara, CA will highlight precision medicine approaches in emerging therapeutics, the clinic, COVID-19, data sciences, real-world evidence and much more.
June 26 - July 1, 2022
Personalized Medicine Gordon Research Conference, Ventura Beach, CA. Topics on the newest technologies and strategies, to real world experiences of personalized medicine in the fields of cancer and metagenomics, to large-scale clinical applications.
Science Policy & Strategy
Keith Yamamoto, Vice Chancellor of Science Policy and Strategy, had testified before Congress in February on ARPA-H (Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health ), and later in March met with Xavier Becerra, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services as President Biden was deciding where ARPA-H would live. (Yamamoto's comments start at 35:17). Final result: ARPA-H will be part of the NIH, but under the direction of Sec. Becerra. See PDF article

The goal of ARPA-H is rapid development of transformative diagnostics, therapeutics and prevention measures that extend fundamental discoveries emergent from NIH research into applications that benefit all. Both the authorizing congressional committee and Becarra’s office have reached out to Yamamoto for continued advice as the new agency takes form.
The Science and Technology Action Committee (co-chaired by Yamamoto), in partnership with CQ Roll Call hosted a virtual event with Yamamoto, Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan (Director, National Science Foundation), Dr. Kristina Johnson (President, Ohio State University), Rep. Frank Lucas (Ranking Member, House Science, Space & Technology Committee) Jordan Crenshaw (Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Technology Engagement Center) and other experts to discuss why investments in R&D are critical for America’s future. Learn more and Watch Video
The Elements of Precision Medicine