• News

"DNA Tests Could Help Docs Detect Infectious Diseases Faster" - Megan Molteni

  • Wired
  • New York, NY
  • (October 22, 2018)

Hospitals are beginning to turn to genetic sequencing services to identify the pathogens making patients sick. “This is pretty bleeding-edge stuff,” says Joel Dudley, PhD, director of the Institute for Next Generation Healthcare at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and executive vice president of precision health for the Mount Sinai Health System. For one thing, if scientists want to use sequencing and software to identify any microbe—bacteria, virus, fungus, parasite—from DNA alone, they first need to build up massive genetic databases that evolve as the bugs do. “We’re just beginning to get data sets big enough to have clinical utility. So there’s still work to be done,” said Dr. Dudley. “But it’s a very promising approach for getting diagnoses more quickly.”

- Joel Dudley, PhD, Director, Institute for Next Generation Healthcare, Associate Professor, Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Executive Vice President, Precision Health, Mount Sinai Health System

Learn more