The Precision Medicine World Conference has awarded Elaine R. Mardis, PhD, with a 2017 Luminary Award, recognizing her for her role in shaping health care through her leading work in genome sequencing and therapeutic application development. The Luminary Award recognizes preeminent individuals who have led the effort to create clinical applications for personalized medicine. She was selected as one of three recipients of the award in addition to Keith Yamamoto, PhD, vice chancellor for science policy and strategy, University of California San Francisco and the National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD.
Dr. Mardis is the co-executive director of The Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital where next-generation sequencing (NGS) is being integrated into pediatric medicine to produce vital new genomic information and more precise diagnoses to better inform clinicians and improve treatment outcomes for patients. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the American Association for Cancer Research and played a key role in federally funded genomics research initiatives such as the Human Genome Project and The Cancer Genome Atlas. She was included on the 2013 Thomson Reuters’ list of most cited researchers, one of only two women listed.
In addition to receiving the Luminary Award, Dr. Mardis also spoke at the Precision Medicine World Conference 2017 event at Duke University, describing precision cancer genomics and the resultant opportunities for targeted and personalized medicine in the realm of cancer treatment.
The Precision Medicine World Conference is the original and leading forum for personalized medicine that attracts tens of thousands of attendees, companies and speakers across the health care and biotechnology sectors highlighting the different aspects and directions of precision medicine. The independent Conference emphasizes cross-disciplinary collaboration and pushes for further adoption of personalized medicine in the clinical environment. The next Precision Medicine World Conference will be hosted by the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley in January 2018. Dr. Mardis received her award the evening of May 24th shortly after her presentation.