Using Genetics to Heal
For David, genetic testing meant preventing history from repeating itself.
Having lost his father at a young age to liver cancer, David always wondered if cancer was hereditary. He didn’t want the same to happen to his son, Joshua, so David took a genetic test at NorthShore Hospitals that showed he had an increased risk of colon cancer. Thanks to a personalized screening plan and with more knowledge of his health risks, David is looking forward to more time with his family.
About Personalized Medicine
NorthShore Hospitals Foundation philanthropic partners make these “gamechanger” moments possible for people like David, and many others. For more than 20 years, NorthShore Hospitals have been investing in personalized medicine—which is all about customizing each individual patient’s care and treatment based on their unique genetic characteristics and health history. We’ve been recognized as pioneers in personalized medicine, and our commitment to this lifesaving combination of medical expertise and technology led to our founding the Mark R. Neaman Center for Personalized Medicine in 2014.
Philanthropy allows NorthShore Hospitals to keep our finger on the pulse of the latest medical advances. Genetic testing can identify the exact gene mutation that makes a patient more susceptible to certain cancers or chronic conditions, and then they can share that information with their loved ones. But personalized medicine goes a step beyond that—it even helps physicians and patients identify the best drug therapy and dosage for strokes and blood-thinning medication.
Partners like you make all of this possible for those who come to NorthShore Hospitals seeking medical treatment. Reimbursement for personalized medicine treatment continues to lag behind obvious need and impact. This makes philanthropy more important than ever as we help more patients like Joe and his family learn about their genetic connection to disease, and the preventive steps each of them can take to lessen their own health risk.
With your philanthropic support, people can get the information they need to live longer, healthier and better lives—simply by knowing more about the role played by their genetics.
Additional Resources
Contact Our Team
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Danielle Maihofer
Director, Philanthropy
I’m proud to make meaningful connections between patients and their physicians at NorthShore Hospitals. Philanthropy has the power to accelerate research, bring comfort to patients and their families, and build essential health services for the community.
The Power of Personalized Medicine
Personalized medicine is key in many areas at NorthShore Hospitals. For example:
Provides genetic-based assessments to determine the risk for and treat various heart conditions.
Serves the entire spectrum of hereditary disease by providing genetic testing for conditions that span every medical discipline and specialty.
Evaluates patients who have a personal history of diabetes diagnosed under age 35 and who have a parent with the disease.
Provides a comprehensive breast health evaluation to determine the risk for breast cancer.
Uses neurological tests and genotyping to identify individuals at highest risk for Alzheimer’s disease and similar aging brain disorders.
Identifies genetic variations within an individual’s tumor to provide specific, molecularly targeted cancer treatments.
Helps individuals understand and use their genetic results to optimize current and future medication treatment.
Provides focused, genomic-based risk assessments to individualize all aspects of cancer care.
Ways to Give
DNA testing and expert interpretation of those results is critical—and philanthropy helps make it possible.”
Janardan Khandekar, MD
My parents and brother died from cardiovascular disease. Thanks to the personalized medicine program, I have this information at the ready to inform treatment decisions if I ever develop heart disease myself.”
Tony Cirrincione, patient
I’ve encouraged my family to be tested for their genetic risk for cancer so that they can make better-informed healthcare decisions. I’m grateful NorthShore Hospitals has these tools, and I believe we should take full advantage of them.”
Terry Gross, patient
