Matching Genetic Makeup To Provide The Best Quality of Life.

March, 2011. Dr. Daniel Von Hoff was presented the Scripps Genomic Medicine Award which recognizes his “pioneering efforts” in sequencing, or spelling out, the DNA of patients with rare cancers.

Dr. Von Hoff’s research and clinical work advances the art of using the fully sequenced genomes of specific cancer patients, spelling out all 3 billion letters of their DNA, to help determine their best course of treatment.

“I’m extremely humbled and honored to receive the award on behalf of all the institutes, medical centers and oncology groups I’m associated with. Through this work, we are trying to improve things for every patient,” said Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, who holds the titles of Physician-in-Chief and Distinguished Professor at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen); Professor of Medicine at both Mayo Clinic and at the University of Arizona College of Medicine; and Chief Scientific Officer at Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare and at US Oncology.

Dr. Von Hoff is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on pancreatic cancer. Some of his most recent work involves the comparative analysis of the fully sequenced genomes of patients with rare cancers and with triple-negative breast cancer, identifying the mutations in the DNA of the patients’ tumors and using that information to help guide future treatment of this rare, and deadly disease.

Dr. Eric J. Topol, Director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI), presented the Genomic Medicine Award to Dr. Von Hoff, citing his “pioneering efforts” in whole genome sequencing as a tool for matching a patient’s genetic makeup with treatments that will provide the best quality of life.

“Dr. Von Hoff’s work represents the future of medicine, in which information gleaned from complex assemblage of an individual’s DNA can be used to target deadly tumors, even among patients with rare cancers,” said Dr. Topol, who also is Chief Academic Officer of Scripps Health, and Professor of Translational Genomics at the Scripps Research Institute.

The award was presented to Dr. Von Hoff during the Future of Genomic Medicine IV conference, March 3-4, 2011 at the Robert Paine Scripps Forum for Science, Society and the Environment, Samuel H. Scripps Auditorium, in La Jolla, Calif.

Physicians, health care professional, human geneticists, genomic scientists and researchers attended the conference. This fourth installment of the Future of Genomic Medicine conference focused on the extraordinary advances occurring in the field, including whole genome and exome sequencing, new gene expression tests for routine medical practice, and consumer genomics. The overarching goal of the annual conference is to spearhead efforts to change medicine by using genomics.

More about Dr. Daniel Von Hoff.