University of Pittsburgh Selects GenomOncology to Support Research Efforts

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Feb 04, 2014, 07:00 ET

WESTLAKE, Ohio, Feb. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- GenomOncology today announced that the University of Pittsburgh has selected GenomOncology's GenomAnalytics^TM platform and services to explore and mine the breadth of data that exists in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA).

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Cancer is a complex disease of the genome with each tumor having its own set of genetic anomalies. Increased understanding of the genetic changes in cancer cells can lead to precise treatment strategies tailored to the genetic profile of each patient's cancer. To further this understanding and advance treatment options, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has established The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Data Portal that allows researchers to access and analyze comprehensive, multi-dimensional maps of the key genomic changes in major types and subtypes of cancer.

To date, the TCGA project has focused on more than 20 cancer types and amassed thousands of samples. These samples will be further characterized to include single nucleotide variants, copy number variants, expression level changes, methylation and clinical phenotype data. The University of Pittsburgh is one of the largest contributors to TCGA.

The GenomAnalytics platform will be used to investigate and visualize cancer genomic research data as a part of the University's Personalized Medicine research initiative. This project will engage the cancer research community and leverage the GenomAnlaytics platform to develop, validate and review scientific hypotheses associated with the unique drivers associated with cancer.

"GenomOncology is honored to work with the University of Pittsburgh on this important initiative." said Manuel Glynias, President and CEO of GenomOncology. "We are confident that our robust technology platform and onsite support will accelerate the interpretation of the diverse amount of data in TCGA."

About the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Biomedical Informatics

The Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) brings together a diverse group of faculty who are committed to improving biomedical research and clinical care through the application of innovative technologies. Currently funded projects explore areas such as genomic and proteomic data mining, natural language processing, machine learning, and bio-surveillance. In addition, DBMI is home to one of the National Library of Medicine's university-based Research Training Programs in Biomedical Informatics. For more information please visit http://www.dbmi.pitt.edu.

About GenomOncology

GenomOncology is enabling precision medicine by translating next generation sequencing data into actionable information for clinicians and researchers. In collaboration with molecular pathologists and physicians, GenomOncology has developed the GO Clinical Workbench^TM, a decision support tool with a step-by-step workflow that takes raw data from the sequencer and translates the specific molecular profile of each patient's tumor genome into an actionable clinical report.

GenomOncology's research platform, GenomAnalytics^TM, allows scientists to analyze one or hundreds of genomes simultaneously to look for causal variants, reducing the time required to understand the genomic alterations that lead to new discoveries about the biology of cancer. More information can be found on the company's website at www.genomoncology.com.

For more information regarding this announcement, please contact:

Jane Krug, PR Contact
Phone: 504-390-5935
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE GenomOncology