| November 6, 2009 |
Jackson Laboratory Considering New Facility
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The Jackson Laboratory is evaluating the feasibility of establishing an institute for personalized medicine in southwest Florida. The institute would complement JAX's Bar Harbor and Sacramento facilities and would more directly apply JAX's expertise in genomics and bioinformatics to improving human health and treating disease. The new facility would employ around 200 people and have an annual operating budget of about $100 million within the first few years. JAX scientists in the new facility would collaborate with their Bar Harbor colleagues and eventually with Florida medical schools and other research institutions. A decision to proceed with the new facility is several months away. JAX President and CEO Rick Woychik, Ph.D., states that the Florida institute would have little, if any, effect on JAX's presence in Maine and California: "JAX's core operations will stay in Maine. Any expansion will be designed to complement our existing scientific capabilities here. We will maintain and grow our existing programs and facilities in Maine and California." "We are on the verge of a whole new era in medicine, and we expect to play a pioneering role in the science that will accelerate personalized medicine." —JAX President and CEO Rick Woychik |
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Consideration of the new facility is being prompted by drastic reductions in the cost and speed of whole-genome sequencing and by a deeper understanding of genetic networks, both of which are opening up exciting new possibilities for personalized medicine - treating patients based on their unique genetic makeup. "We are on the verge of a whole new era in medicine, and we expect to play a pioneering role in the science that will accelerate personalized medicine," says Rick Woychik. "Understanding the complex genetics of disease and of the individual will enable physicians to treat patients more effectively, reduce drug side effects, and lower the cost of health care.
