September 2024 Update
Your quarterly update from the MCGI team
July 2024 — September 2024
Join Us at the Day of Hope!
The Day of Hope, hosted annually by the Harold Alfond Center for Cancer Care, is a day filled with celebration, education, and inspiration for the cancer community. Mark your calendars for Saturday, October 5, 2024, and join us at the Augusta Civic Center for a day of exciting festivities. Explore activities and exhibitors, dedicated to supporting and uplifting those affected by cancer.
To register, visit MaineGeneral Health’s Day of Hope website.
Make sure to stop by the MCGI table! We look forward to meeting you, sharing insights about the Maine Cancer Genomics Initiative, and discussing how we’re advancing cancer care across Maine.
MCGI Registry Updates
The MCGI Registry is an ongoing initiative aimed at supporting the scientific community in advancing research in cancer and genomic medicine. Open to both internal and external requests, this project offers a valuable resource for a broad range of researchers. The registry's purpose is to facilitate future cancer and genomic medicine research, potentially leading to new diagnostic or prognostic techniques that could benefit patients. It provides an extensive collection of clinical genomic tumor datasets linked with diagnostic, treatment, and outcomes data, along with samples from consenting participants.
The unique dataset, derived mainly from cancer patients in Northern New England, particularly Maine, offers a detailed profile of patients treated in community oncology settings during the early days of precision medicine. Additionally, it includes exposure data collected from parents of children affected by pediatric cancer.
Scientists interested in accessing the registry's data and samples can submit their projects for review and approval by the MCGI Registry Data and Samples Access Committee (AC). For questions, please contact mcgi@jax.org.
GTBs for Early Career Researchers
The "Bench to Bedside" journey highlights the need for scientific research to translate into real-world patient care. To bridge this gap, JAX Clinical Education and the MCGI have developed an innovative course for early career researchers. Participants observe Genomic Tumor Boards (GTBs) to learn firsthand how genomic data is applied in clinical decisions in patient care, improving their ability to communicate research to clinicians and providing exposure to new career opportunities in the translational research setting. Expanded in 2024, the course now includes participants from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, UConn Health, and other institutions.
This hands-on experience helps researchers understand the complexities of patient care and the challenges clinicians face in applying research data to improve patient outcomes. Stay tuned for details on the next iteration of the course in 2025!
Read the full article, here.
Free Educational Resources
In case you missed the live event, the Precision Oncology 101: Short Lessons for Busy Clinicians webinar series recordings are now available! Each 30 minute webinar focuses on foundational topics in precision oncology, providing essential insights into biomarker testing for therapeutic decision-making.
Click here to access the recordings.
Topics:
- Top 5 Things to Know About Biomarker Testing
- Germline Testing After Biomarker Testing: When and Why?
- ABCs of HRD: Understanding Homologous Recombination Deficiency