New York, NYApril 6, 2007 -- The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies (ACBP) have given $12.5 million to establish the Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine at The Mount Sinai Medical Center. The Leadership Gift will help propel Mount Sinai to the forefront of personalized medicine, an emerging field that uses information about a persons genetic make-up to customize strategies for the detection, treatment, and prevention of disease. At the highest level, Mr. Bronfmans grant underscores the vital role philanthropy will play in advancing next-generation medical practice.
"Personalized medicine could be the most important scientific development of the 21st century," said Charles Bronfman, Chairman of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies. "In an industry like medicine, where market forces are slow to change, philanthropy must play the role of catalyst facilitating growth, inspiring awareness, and serving as a basis for change. The Mount Sinai Medical Center has been a pacesetter in the area of personalized medicine and is a clear choice for receiving this grant."
Personalized medicine transforms the traditional "one-size-fits-all" model of medicine by utilizing new methods of molecular analysis to better manage a patients disease or predisposition toward a disease. It represents a dramatic departure from "evidence-based medicine," which is based on population studies and has dominated medical principles for decades. While the evidence-based approach does allow doctors to modify treatment strategies according to a particular patient's response, it relies on trial-and-error and lacks precision. Personalized medicine, on the other hand, gives doctors an answer based on an individuals unique set of genes and thereby reduces uncertainty and error in diagnosis and treatment.
"The Mount Sinai Medical Center is poised to lead the most important medical revolution taking place today, and one that will have the big
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Contact: Rich Polt
rich@louderthanwords.com
718-487-0002
The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
8-Apr-2007