Mount Sinai Health System Launches Collaboration With the Regeneron Genetics Center
Mount Sinai Health System today announced it will extend its work with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. through a collaboration with its wholly owned subsidiary, the Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC), to perform whole exome sequencing on 33,000 DNA and plasma samples housed in Mount Sinai’s BioMe™ Biobank, one of the first biobank repositories in the country to link DNA sequencing data to clinical information stored within the electronic medical record (EMR).
“The Mount Sinai BioMe Biobank is distinguished by its rich diversity in patient populations linked to electronic medical records,” said Judy Cho, MD, Ward-Coleman Professor of Translational Genetics and Medicine and Director of The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “We are extremely pleased to enter into this collaboration with the RGC to develop high-quality sequence data from the BioMe cohort. This partnership provides an important means of more effectively personalizing medical care throughout the Mount Sinai Health System.”
The BioMe Biobank constitutes one of the largest collection of samples collections in the United States that can be used for the analysis and sequencing of genetic material and comparison to long-term health outcomes. The RGC will perform whole exome sequencing to generate de-identified genomic data and analyze that data alongside EMRs, in order to discover actionable insights about human diseases that may be applied to drug discovery and development. The size and scope of the study, one of the largest of its kind, are meant to allow greater precision in identifying and validating the associations between genes and human disease, and potentially pinpointing more effective therapies for patients.
“We are excited to work with Regeneron, global leaders in advanced sequencing technology, analysis and translational medicine,” said Erik Lium, PhD, Senior Vice President of Mount Sinai Innovation Partners. “This has the potential to dramatically change outcomes, ensuring a deeper understanding of disease and paving the way for therapeutic discoveries.”
“This marks Regeneron’s second recent collaboration with Mount Sinai, an important neighbor in the New York bioscience community,” said Alan Shuldiner, MD, Vice President and Co-Head of the Regeneron Genetics Center. “The pairing of Mount Sinai’s clinical excellence and Regeneron’s expertise in genetics-based research and therapeutic development holds enormous promise for discoveries that could ultimately benefit patients around the globe.”
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the nation’s leading integrated academic health systems and one of the largest in the New York metropolitan area. Its comprehensive system includes seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, over 600 research and clinical laboratories, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing. Together, the Health System comprises approximately 48,000 employees, more than 9,000 physicians, and 8,600 nurses.
As a leading learning health system, Mount Sinai combines clinical expertise with scientific discovery to improve patient care while training the next generation of health care and biomedical leaders. The Health System provides care across every stage of life, from prenatal care through geriatrics, while advancing personalized medicine through artificial intelligence, data science, and biomedical research.
Mount Sinai is consistently recognized among the nation’s leading academic health systems for patient care, research, and education. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 1 in New York by Newsweek and No. 5 on the magazine’s World’s Best Hospitals list. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ranks No. 11 among U.S. medical schools and No. 1 among freestanding medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding, reflecting the strength of its scientific enterprise and leadership in biomedical research.