Daniel Judge, MD, on Making Genetic Testing, Insights More Mainstream

The time is now for genetics to become much more clinically available and informative and hopefully something that will drive better therapies.

As recent as 2 decades ago, the thought of applying genetic insights to clinical care was merely a pipe dream. Today, genetic testing is available and more accessible, and translational research continues to show the value of these insights into both personalized approaches to care as well as the development of new, targeted therapeutics.

Yet, we still have so much to learn, and that is the motivation behind "In Our DNA SC," a community research project recently launched by the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and Helix. The state-wide initiative will offer no-cost genetic testing for 100,000 individuals to assess for actionable information related to certain types of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Not only will patients be able to review these key findings with their providers, but participants will also be contributing to one of the largest clinical-genomic datasets that will be used for future research.

To learn more about the initiative and the increasing role of genetics in everyday clinical care, CGTLive spoke with Daniel Judge, MD, professor of medicine in cardiology, MUSC.