Initial clinical areas of focus include autism, oncology, neurology and women’s health.
The collaboration, which combines the research discoveries and capabilities of UCSF with the national testing database and technical and clinical development capability of Quest Diagnostics, has an overarching aim of enabling holistic and integrated diagnostic solutions that close gaps in care or enable new clinical value.
Under the terms of the agreement, scientists will jointly research, develop and validate diagnostic innovations to solve specific clinical problems and provide actionable information to improve patient care. The organizations will focus on diagnostics to advance precision medicine, an emerging field of medical science that aims to integrate the most informative data from molecular, clinical, population and other research to create predictive, preventive and precise medical solutions for patients. Quest Diagnostics would independently develop and validate any lab-developed tests for clinical use that emerge from the collaboration’s research.
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“There are many diagnostics projects underway at UCSF for which Quest could partner and contribute a great deal of value in turning an isolated research project into a diagnostic service or other technology that directly benefits patients,” said June Lee, MD, FACCP, director of Early Translational Research at the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute, which initiated the collaboration with Quest after several scientists from both organizations had formed isolated, but successful, research collaborations. “This agreement will give UCSF researchers access to Quest expertise in developing diagnostics, as well as in understanding the market conditions for projects on campus.”
The alliance will further combine UCSF’s early-stage research with Quest Diagnostics expertise in data pooling and analysis to initiate and advance clinical studies. Strong areas of mutual interest include digital health initiatives to enhance the value of diagnostic information and inform population health strategies, and integrated diagnostics that will incorporate imaging, laboratory and clinical datasets into valuable diagnostic solutions that will yield health insights for targeted groups of patients.
Read the full story on UCSF.edu
Additional story by the Wall Street Journal here & PDF