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  100%: EVERYONE COULD BENEFIT FROM NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN PREDICTIVE HEALTH.  
     
  THE YEAR IS 2021, AND ANNIE COLE IS AN ACTIVE, HEALTHY 5-YEAR-OLD, BURSTING WITH ENERGY AND EXCITEMENT. THE COURSE OF HER LIFE ALREADY HAS BEEN CHANGED DRAMATICALLY FOR THE BETTER, THANKS TO A NEW KIND OF HEALTH CARE CALLED PREDICTIVE HEALTH, in which planning for optimal health and longevity begins at birth and disease is no longer the primary focus.
     When Annie was born at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in 2016, her blood was analyzed to screen for literally hundreds of proteins. This analysis gave doctors a picture of her health status and risk for future disease. From her blood sample, they identified the basic generic biomarkers that characterize good health. They also identified deviations from these biomarkers that could signal health problems in years to come.
     Baby Annie’s biomarkers indicated some risk of diabetes. She was healthy, her parents were assured, but the predictive health physicians wanted to follow her over the next few years to watch for further signs of diabetes risk. By the time she was 3, it was clear that without intervention, she would develop insulin-dependent diabetes within the next four years. She was put on a regimen of exercise and drugs, which meant that the disease would be prevented. It also meant that Annie would avoid much pain and suffering from diabetes-related complications over her lifetime, not to mention hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. In fact, her clinicians predicted, she would be able to anticipate a long and healthy old age.
     The Emory/Georgia Tech Predictive Health Initiative is transforming the above scenario from futuristic dream to a work in progress. The initiative brings clinicians, scientists, and computer engineers together with experts in health policy, behavioral health, business, law, and bioethics. It takes advantage of recent discoveries in genomics (the DNA sequence of individuals), proteomics (the proteins encoded by genes), bioinformatics (the ability to analyze previously unimaginable amounts of biologic data), and systems biology (computer modeling of all aspects of cellular metabolsim). And its goal is to devise a cost-effective system that will help preserve good health throughout life, both for individuals and for populations as a whole.
 
     
     
     
  Helping the body heal itself  
     
  Stem cells derived from bone marrow appear to recognize when vessels become blocked and can help create alternate routes for circulation  
     
  Bone marrow churns out stem cells that know how to migrate to damaged tissue and then transform themselves into whatever is needed, whether heart, lung, or muscle cell. But helping these cells do really big jobs—such as repairing damage caused by heart attack or stroke—is another matter. Emory scientist Arshed Quyyumi is working on new ways to culture, harvest, and transplant adult bone marrow stem cells and then guide them to the task at hand. He has found that cardiovascular health corresponds to the circulating number of partially differentiated stem cells that can form the layer lining the body’s blood vessels. Low numbers mean worse vascular function; higher numbers offer protection. These cells appear to recognize when blood vessels become blocked and take steps to change into blood vessel cells that then create alternative routes for blood flow, the same thing surgeons do in bypass surgery. Quyyumi is currently involved in a trial stimulating the body’s bone marrow to release more stem cells to the oxygen-starved legs of patients with painful peripheral vascular disease. Heart attack patients will be next.  
     
     
 
     
  YOU CAN HELP!  
     
  Transform health and healing:  
     
  > HELP THINK OUTSIDE THE BUILDING. As medicine changes, so will the facilities where it is practiced. For example, new abilities to predict risk, preserve health, and treat disease will blur the lines between inpatient and outpatient care that characterize today’s hospitals and clinics. Emory visionaries already are beginning to think about what the future will look like—and they welcome philanthropic visionaries to join this process.    
     
  > GET PUBLISHED. The only thing you’ll have to write is a check. Named research fellowship awards are essential to growing the next generation of researchers, allowing innovative young faculty to pioneer ideas that might otherwise go unfunded. Publications that result from this support acknowledge the fellowship. Isn’t there some area of medicine that you’d like to rewrite, with a happier ending?  
     
  > ASK YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT PARTICIPATING IN CLINICAL TRIALS, which test new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease. They require large numbers of volunteers who want both state-of-the-art care and the chance to contribute to the improvement of health care for everyone.  
     
  Send your gift today by calling 404-727-3518, or give online.  
     
 
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