Personalized Medicine

A world leader in personalized medicine, Vanderbilt is home to multiple programs, research centers and resources dedicated to improving individual patient outcomes.

Advancing Personalized Medicine at Vanderbilt

Personalized medicine builds on a deep understanding of each person’s medical history, genetic makeup and personal circumstances to tailor diagnosis, prevention and treatment strategies to best meet their individual needs.

To make health care personal and improve patient outcomes, Vanderbilt researchers and clinicians aim to discover the factors that impact the health of every individual – genetics, socioeconomic circumstances, environmental exposures, numeracy and literacy, and access to healthcare.

While medicine has long embraced the idea of personalizing health care, recent technological advances have made that goal much more attainable.

Examples of these advances include:

  • Genomic and other technologies to predict disease susceptibility and drug response
  • Digital technologies to engage large numbers of subjects and interrogate their health status
  • Increasingly sophisticated approaches to interpret very large datasets such as genomes or phenomes in electronic health records (EHRs)

Key Programs at Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt is home to leading precision medicine initiatives, including federally -funded projects, institution-wide tools and resources, and multidisciplinary academic programs.