STEM-Talk: Euan Ashley on precision medicine’s potential to predict, prevent and diagnose diseases

STEM-Talk episode 160 featuring a conversation with a pioneer in the use of genomic sequencing is now available on IHMC’s website, podcast apps and YouTube.

Dr. Euan Ashley is a professor of cardiology and genetics at Stanford University in California who
is developing new technologies to solve some of the most puzzling medical mysteries that people face today. He is helping pioneer medical genomics, as well as the precision medicine that it will enable, that has the potential to predict, prevent, and diagnose many common (and uncommon) diseases.

In today’s interview, Dr. Ken Ford and his co-host Dr. Dawn Kernagis talk to Euan about:

— His work with a colleague who was just the fifth person in the world to have his genome sequenced.
— Precision medicine and how Euan has helped establish medical genomics.
— How Euan and his colleagues set the Guinness World Record for the fastest genomic diagnosis.
— Technological advances that made sequencing cost-effective for individuals.
— How pathogenic labels will transform healthcare.
— The Undiagnosed Disease Network, which includes physicians from across the country who work with patients and families to solve medical mysteries.
— Research coming out of Euan’s lab that shows how all forms of exercise, particularly endurance exercise, confer benefits across all domains of health and function.

Euan, who was born and raised in Scotland, led the team that conducted the first clinical interpretation of the human genome. He is associate dean of Stanford’s School of Medicine and the author of The Genome Odyssey: Medical Mysteries and the Incredible Quest to Solve Them.

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry and academia to help develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.