In this complimentary podcast hear Dave Dimond, Chief Innovation Officer for Dell EMC Healthcare and Life Sciences as he speaks with James Lowey, Chief Information Officer for The Translational Genomics Research Institute, or TGen, about its Precision Medicine IT transformation journey. Hear how James brings his strategic vision and leadership to all aspects of IT by working closely with the scientific and administrative leadership of TGen to ensure the right advanced technologies are in production at the right time.

TGen’s a non-profit genomics research institute, and my understanding is that TGen conducts research around genetic discovery to improve disease outcomes, and does so developing smarter diagnostics and targeted therapeutics. With that intro, James, what can you tell us about the work that TGen’s doing today?

You are correct. More than 16 years ago, TGen was founded as a one-of-a-kind genomics research institute. Today, TGen is not only an integral piece of Arizona’s statewide bioscience initiative, but also a world-class center of innovation. We continuously move the needle with regard to advancing precision medicine. TGen partners with researchers and doctors around the globe to share diagnostic and case information to provide more personalized treatment.

Our work is focused primarily on cancer, but we also work with neurogenic conditions such as Alzheimer’s, and metabolic diseases such as Diabetes, along with rare childhood disorders passed down through inheritance, and we specialize in underserved populations — so-called “orphan” diseases — rare health conditions that do not have a high enough prevalence to justify large, randomized clinical trials.

In the light of all of today’s technological advancements, we still face considerable challenges: We need to process 90 billion data points for each human genome sequence. All of this data is stored for access by other collaborators or medical providers — now and later. And all of this data needs to be processed, analyzed, securely communicated and ultimately used to provide actionable insights.

This continues to provide an obstacle to the work of TGen and the field of precision medicine. But it’s an obstacle that needs to be addressed – particularly as TGen now starts to move from research-driven solutions to clinical application. We are looking for ways to make the science applicable in the larger clinical context, which means unprecedented scale.

We urge you to click on the podcast link for more in depth conversation on how TGen continues to drive the transition from scientific research into clinical application.