The project, entitled, “Implementing Risk-Based Preemptive Pharmacogenomic (PGx) Testing in Employee Health,” aims to generate real-world clinical utility data on the value of preemptive PGx panel testing in high-risk populations, a PGx Risk Score capable of predicting patients who benefit from PGx testing, new clinical decision support in UPMC electronic health records, return of results to patients through MyUPMC, and an engaged Pitt/UPMC clinical workforce that understands how to effectively use PGx results for precision medicine.

Drs. Philip Empey, Lucas Berenbrok and James Coons, along with Dr. Mylynda Massart (Family Medicine) and Ed Smith (UPMC Genome Center) will work collaboratively with Drs. C. Bernie Good and Samuel Peasah from the UPMC Health Plan to evaluate the clinical utility of a new 14-gene pharmacogenomics (PGx) testing panel developed by the Pitt Pharmacy team and the UPMC Genome Center. The investigators will conduct a rigorous pragmatic clinical trial of pharmacist-provided comprehensive medication management (CMM) services including PGx testing versus CMM alone to determine the real-world value of PGx. Participants will include Pitt/UPMC employees with a high risk of poor and costly medical outcomes.

The project is one of just two selected to receive $1M over three years through the first Precision Medicine Implementation Program (PreMIP) awards from the Institute for Precision Medicine. The goal of PreMIP is to generate data with a high level of causal evidence that may result in a change of clinical care. The projects integrate precision medicine tools and approaches within UPMC’s clinical knowledge and volume, patient data and expertise to uncover and apply new ways to predict, diagnose and treat disease.

For full details, see the press release

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