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In an effort to advance precision medicine, the Biocuration Core at the UNC School of Medicine is using Genomet’s innovative collaboration platform to strengthen user engagement.


In an effort to advance precision medicine, the Biocuration Core at the UNC School of Medicine is using Genomet’s innovative collaboration platform to strengthen user engagement.

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Jenny Goldstein, PhD, Biocuration Core supervisor

The Biocuration Core at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a ClinGen grantee, has implemented Genomet’s next-generation clinical genetics collaboration platform to support discussion of key issues in the curation and assessment of information supporting gene-disease relationships. Genomet’s innovative community-building tools and knowledge-matching features help the members of the Biocuration Core consistently collect and evaluate the evidence supporting a gene-disease relationship.

The recent tsunami of available genomic data presents a challenge for researchers and clinicians. To make use of this data to design new interventions to help patients, researchers must be able to collaborate with peers to uncover medically useful findings and clinicians need to quickly translate this information into actionable treatment options. Genomet addresses this challenge by establishing a next-gen clinical community platform that connects specialists to the wider network of medical professionals and researchers with related clinical interests.

“Genomet has been invaluable in promoting discussion among our group and with outside collaborators, allowing us to come to agreement on curation of complex pieces of evidence and to recognize where additional training and guidance might be needed for our curators,” said Jenny Goldstein, PhD, supervisor of the Biocuration Core at the UNC School of Medicine.

“Genomet is the ideal next-gen platform for data-centric precision medicine organizations and hospitals to keep their medical professionals apprised of the latest insights in genomics research and clinical practice,” said Genomet founder Dan Brodsky. “Traditional group and association software is not built for this kind of clinical engagement and cannot readily adapt to the unique needs of health care providers, including the ability to keep up with evolving interpretations within precision medicine and oncology.”

Using the latest social media features, bioinformatics, and hospital-compliant protocols, Genomet channels time-sensitive discussions around clinically significant findings in a secure manner that reduces email overload. For example, the UNC Biocuration Core uses Genomet’s discussion engine for their curators and experts to share cutting-edge developments and interpretations. Genomet provides the UNC Biocuration Core with a tool to help foster community, promote knowledge exchange, and keep curators up-to-date within the rapidly evolving field of precision medicine.