Browsing by Author "Ambroise Wonkam"

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    Genomic Medicine Without Borders: Which Strategies Should Developing Countries Employ to Invest in Precision Medicine? A New Fast-Second Winner Strategy
    (2017-11-01) Konstantinos Mitropoulos; David N. Cooper; Christina Mitropoulou; Spiros Agathos; Jürgen K.V. Reichardt; Fatima Al-Maskari; Wasun Chantratita; Ambroise Wonkam; Collet Dandara; Theodora Katsila; Catalina Lopez-Correa; Bassam R. Ali; George P. Patrinos; University of Athens; Cardiff University; The Golden Helix Foundation; Yachay Tech; College of Medicine and Health Sciences United Arab Emirates University; United Arab Emirates University; Mahidol University; University of Cape Town; Panepistimion Patron; Genome British Columbia
    © 2017, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Genomic medicine has greatly matured in terms of its technical capabilities, but the diffusion of genomic innovations worldwide faces significant barriers beyond mere access to technology. New global development strategies are sorely needed for biotechnologies such as genomics and their applications toward precision medicine without borders. Moreover, diffusion of genomic medicine globally cannot adhere to a "one-size-fits-all-countries" development strategy, in the same way that drug treatments should be customized. This begs a timely, difficult but crucial question: How should developing countries, and the resource-limited regions of developed countries, invest in genomic medicine? Although a full-scale investment in infrastructure from discovery to the translational implementation of genomic science is ideal, this may not always be feasible in all countries at all times. A simple "transplantation of genomics" from developed to developing countries is unlikely to be feasible. Nor should developing countries be seen as simple recipients and beneficiaries of genomic medicine developed elsewhere because important advances in genomic medicine have materialized in developing countries as well. There are several noteworthy examples of genomic medicine success stories involving resource-limited settings that are contextualized and described in this global genomic medicine innovation analysis. In addition, we outline here a new long-term development strategy for global genomic medicine in a way that recognizes the individual country's pressing public health priorities and disease burdens. We term this approach the "Fast-Second Winner" model of innovation that supports innovation commencing not only "upstream" of discovery science but also "mid-stream," building on emerging highly promising biomarker and diagnostic candidates from the global science discovery pipeline, based on the unique needs of each country. A mid-stream entry into innovation can enhance collective learning from other innovators' mistakes upstream in discovery science and boost the probability of success for translation and implementation when resources are limited. This à la carte model of global innovation and development strategy offers multiple entry points into the global genomics innovation ecosystem for developing countries, whether or not extensive and expensive discovery infrastructures are already in place. Ultimately, broadening our thinking beyond the linear model of innovation will help us to enable the vision and practice of genomics without borders in both developed and resource-limited settings.
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    Success stories in genomic medicine from resource-limited countries
    (2015-01-01) Konstantinos Mitropoulos; Hayat Al Jaibeji; Diego A. Forero; Paul Laissue; Ambroise Wonkam; Catalina Lopez-Correa; Zahurin Mohamed; Wasun Chantratita; Ming Ta Michael Lee; Adrian Llerena; Angela Brand; Bassam R. Ali; George P. Patrinos; The Golden Helix Foundation; Maastricht University; College of Medicine and Health Sciences United Arab Emirates University; Universidad Antonio Nariño; Universidad del Rosario; University of Cape Town, Faculty of Health Sciences; Genome Quebec; University of Malaya; Mahidol University; Riken; Academia Sinica, Institute of Biomedical Sciences; Universidad de Extremadura; Panepistimion Patron
    © 2015 Mitropoulos et al. In recent years, the translation of genomic discoveries into mainstream medical practice and public health has gained momentum, facilitated by the advent of new technologies. However, there are often major discrepancies in the pace of implementation of genomic medicine between developed and developing/resource-limited countries. The main reason does not only lie in the limitation of resources but also in the slow pace of adoption of the new findings and the poor understanding of the potential that this new discipline offers to rationalize medical diagnosis and treatment. Here, we present and critically discuss examples from the successful implementation of genomic medicine in resource-limited countries, focusing on pharmacogenomics, genome informatics, and public health genomics, emphasizing in the latter case genomic education, stakeholder analysis, and economics in pharmacogenomics. These examples can be considered as model cases and be readily replicated for the wide implementation of pharmacogenomics and genomic medicine in other resource-limited environments.