Personalized Medicine – Policy Gaps and System Readiness – Summary Report

The concept of “personalized medicine” in health is garnering increased attention. Personalized medicine can be defined as the tailoring of preventive, diagnostic, or therapeutic interventions to the characteristics of an individual or population. This may involve genetic or laboratory biomarker information. As personalized medicine promises to increasingly change the paradigm of how medicine is practiced, questions remain as to whether current systems for the adoption and implementation of these servies are ready and what the implications are for research and development activities in both the public and private sector.

The objectives of this roundtable were to:

1. Discuss the current and potential state of the adoption and implementation of personalized medicine in Canada.
2. Articulate some directions, goals, and components of a vision for the adoption and implementation of personalized medicine in Canada.
3. Identify opportunities and barriers to achieving these goals and their strengths and limitations.