Happy fall! As we head into flu season, the same advice for staying healthy that we've been hearing for months still applies: wash your hands, wear a mask, and physically distance yourself from others. In addition to those steps, we urge you to get a flu shot to reduce the potential burden on the healthcare system, and to protect yourself, your loved ones, and your community. 

This month we’re providing news about the Capital Collaborative On Race and Equity, sharing details about our fall Precision Medicine Advisory Council Meeting, and highlighting recent stories about how many in our CIAPM network are helping to lead the state and national responses to COVID-19.

If you are conducting exciting work in the field of precision medicine, we’d love to tell your story, too. Send us an email or use the blue button at the bottom of this newsletter.  

In partnership,  

The California Precision Medicine Asset Inventory is an interactive mapping tool hosted and maintained by CIAPM that includes relevant research institutes, organizations, companies, and datasets. There are currently 497 items listed in the inventory. Add your organization or suggest others.

CIAPM is participating in CCORE, a 14-month racial equity capacity-building program for state employees.

Last month, each agency team analyzed the root causes of racial inequity within their jurisdictions and constituencies. This month, the teams brainstormed strategies to address the “hottest” roots. These strategies will be used to craft each agency’s own Racial Equity Action Plan (REAP). State and local agencies across the country have followed this process to develop REAPs, including our partners at the California Strategic Growth Council.

The COVID-19 Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, announced October 19, will review any COVID-19 vaccine approved by the FDA before it is distributed in California. Two CIAPM advisors, current and former, are members of the workgroup: 

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) introduced the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative to hasten the development, implementation, and commercialization of COVID-19 testing. The initiative includes several programs to support the development of new platforms, novel applications of existing technology, and outreach to communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.  

Dr. Bonnie Maldonado will serve as lead PI on “Monitoring COVID-19 And Building Capacity With Northern Plains Tribes And The Future of Pandemics,” one of the 32 projects funded through the RADx Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) program.

California researchers are well represented among the RADx-UP projects, including teams from UC Davis, San Diego State University, UC San Diego, and University of Southern California.

Out of over 650 applications, California-based companies received 10 of 22 total RADx awards to businesses, amounting to nearly a half billion dollars to foster novel COVID-19 testing technologies. Congratulations to these companies for their extraordinary leadership:

The study, Community Alliance to Test Coronavirus at Home (CATCH), aims to increase effective population level monitoring and reduce COVID-19 screening inequities by making home-based tests affordable, simple, and accurate. The CATCH study will distribute Vera home test kits to a wide group of participants in the Bay Area.  

Discover how personalized medicine can be used in mental health services, and how digital platforms can promote and enable personalized mental health service provision from both patient and clinician perspectives.

Discover how personalized medicine can be used in cancer care, with a focus on tools used in breast cancer care, such as Predict and BOADICEA, and how these can be used in primary care.

The final episode of the series will discuss approaches to personalized and precision medicine from two of the largest healthcare economies in the world: the USA and China.