News release: Study to explore combining DNA information and e-health records

Dr. Larson will lead NIH-funded grant to better understand genomic basis of disease and give patients tailored care

Group Health Research Institute (GHRI) and the University of Washington (UW) received one of a dozen awards from the National Institutes of Health that will support research to incorporate DNA sequence information into electronic medical records. The goal of research conducted by the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) network is to better understand the genomic basis of disease and to tailor medical care to individual patients based on their genomic differences.

“The new award will allow us to develop leading-edge best practices that will tailor information about a person’s particular genetic makeup to the care that they and their family will receive,” said Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH, the principal investigator of the eMERGE award to GHRI and the UW. “In so doing, we bring the ‘precision medicine’ movement into everyday medical care—a great opportunity for Group Health, the UW, and the scientific community overall.”

Dr. Larson is Group Health vice president for research, the executive director of GHRI, and a clinical professor at the UW Schools of Medicine and Public Health. The amount awarded to the joint Group Health/UW project is $3,385,338 over four years: $1,734,982 to GHRI and $1,650,356 to the UW.

Read the full news release in News and Events.