Biography
Kristine Ashcraft is a molecular biologist by training and is the former CEO and founder of YouScript, recently acquired by Invitae. She has worked in pharmacogenomics since 2000 and was named one of the 25 leading voices in precision medicine. She serves on the STRIPE Steering Committee, the FDA collaborative community for pharmacogenomics. Kristine has authored multiple publications on the clinical and economic benefits of pharmacogenomic testing including one lauded as one of the most influential publications at an American Medical Informatics Association meeting. She has been interviewed by numerous media outlets including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and NBC Nightly News and has spoken at SXSW, American Society of Human Genetics, and numerous precision medicine conferences. She is committed to catalyzing the adoption of precision medicine.
Talk
A discussion of federal and state policy efforts to address known barriers to PGx adoption such as reimbursement, education, and healthcare IT infrastructure including the Right Drug Dose Now Act and American Cancer Societys state biomarker testing bills.
Track Co-Chair:
Mary Relling, St. Jude
Pharmacists have long recognized that using unique patient characteristics to guide pharmacotherapy decision-making can improve drug response and mitigate drug-associated risks. Age, weight, and dietary habits were among the first patient-specific characteristics used to individualize pharmacotherapy. As technologies advanced, analytic tools that measure surrogate markers of liver and renal function, together with drug concentrations in biological fluids, were adopted to optimize therapeutic regimens. Cutting-edge genomic technologies are now being integrated into patient care for the selection of targeted therapies and identification of those at increased risk of poor pharmacotherapy outcomes. We’re excited to bring together experts who are advancing pharmacogenomics at scale through cutting edge clinical implementation, research, and education.