Peter H. Schwartz, MD, PhD, Director of the IU Center for Bioethics, recently received a grant for $2.7 million from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study the impact of using a risk prediction tool to guide patients and their doctors about screening for colorectal cancer. While improving screening and prevention has been a key promise of precision health (or “personalized medicine”), studies have not yet established a benefit from such approaches. Schwartz and colleagues at the IU School of Medicine and IU School of Nursing will use a prediction tool developed by Thomas F. Imperiale, MD, the Lawrence Lumeng Professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, to identify the risk level and provide screening recommendations for 1100 patients who are due for screening and visiting their primary care provider. The study’s initiation was delayed by the COVID epidemic, but will start in late 2020. For more information, see https://www.pcori.org/research-results/2019/does-personalized-risk-information-help-patients-and-doctors-make-informed
For a longer story about the grant and upcoming study, click here.