Endeavor Health, Partnering with GenomicMD, Advances Personalized Medicine Leadership with Polygenic Risk Score Offering

EVANSTON, Ill., Jan. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Endeavor Health is among the first healthcare providers in the nation to offer groundbreaking clinical grade Polygenic Risk Score (PRS) testing for a broad range of conditions. Endeavor Health is partnering with GenomicMD, a CLIA-certified laboratory dedicated to personalizing healthcare through precision medicine and to providing patients and their physicians with assessment of lifetime genomic risk for cardiovascular, cardiometabolic disease, neurologic, oncologic, urologic and other common diseases.

PRS testing generates a personalized genetic risk assessment for complex conditions based on the combined impact of many genetic variants that alone have a minimal effect. "Knowing one's PRS scores can help patients and their physicians take proactive steps to ensure early detection or avoid disease altogether through informed lifestyle changes, disease screening and prevention," says Jianfeng Xu, DrPH, Endeavor Health Vice President of Translational Research, who is the lead scientist collaborating with GenomicMD on this program. "Self-reported family history alone provides an incomplete assessment of a patient's inherited risk. Our research indicates that PRS can identify considerably more individuals at increased risk for disease when compared to family history or rare pathogenic mutations alone. This is a major advancement in the field of genomics and a powerful new tool to improve patient care."

Endeavor Health primary care physicians and specialists will develop care paths for patients who may benefit from this testing and incorporate results into personalized patient management. Initially, PRS testing will be available at select Endeavor Health Medical Group offices, with plans to expand across the system.

Endeavor Health's Genomic Health Initiative (GHI), one of the nation's largest genetic biorepositories, will support the collaboration through the addition of more PRS panels. It is important to broaden the utility of PRS to underrepresented ethnicities, some of whom may be at higher risk for heart disease, cancer and other conditions.

"Our clinical grade, validated PRS panels will provide physicians and their patients with objective, accurate and potentially actionable risk assessments to consider earlier screening and diagnostic testing as well as further motivation for lifestyle changes," says Jason Lobel, CEO and Co-Founder, GenomicMD. "Dr. Xu and Endeavor Health have spent more than a decade studying the clinical utility of PRS. Endeavor Health research indicates that PRS can identify two to four times more individuals at increased risk for disease when compared to family history alone. We will continue to utilize the latest scientific evidence to expand disease coverage as we elevate genomic testing's role in risk stratification for every interested individual."

Since 2014, Endeavor Health has been at the forefront of genetic testing with Advanced Primary Care – one of the nation's largest clinical genomics programs integrated into primary care. To date, more than 50,000 patients have participated in the program to identify genetic risk factors for common disorders, resulting in early diagnosis, prevention strategies, and personalized treatment options to ensure optimal health for individual patients and their family members.

For more information and to determine eligibility for PRS testing, call 847-570-GENE. PRS testing is not currently covered by insurance companies. The out-of-pocket cost for a Lifetime Genomics Risk Assessment panel is $250.

About Endeavor Health
Endeavor Health℠ is a Chicagoland-based integrated health system driven by our mission to help everyone in our communities be their best. As Illinois' third-largest health system and third-largest medical group, we proudly serve an area of more than 4.2 million residents across seven northeast Illinois counties. Our more than 27,000 team members and more than 7,100 physician and advance practice provider partners are the heart of our organization, delivering seamless access to personalized, pioneering, world-class patient care across more than 300 ambulatory locations and nine hospitals, including eight Magnet-recognized acute care hospitals – Edward (Naperville), Elmhurst, Evanston, Glenbrook (Glenview), Highland Park, Northwest Community (Arlington Heights), Skokie and Swedish (Chicago) and Linden Oak Behavioral Health Hospital (Naperville). For more information, visit www.endeavorhealth.org.

About GenomicMD, Inc.
GenomicMD, Inc. was formed in 2023 to help physicians integrate genetic-based personalized medicine (prevention, screening, education, and treatment) into their clinic while enabling individuals to take proactive measures to lead healthier lives by providing individualized disease risk assessments. GenomicMD is a CLIA-certified laboratory that offers its flagship Lifetime Genomics Risk Assessment (LGRA), a clinical grade, preventative screening test for healthcare providers to gain an objective foundation for an individual's genomic risk for common diseases. For more information, visit www.genomicmd.com.

Contact: Rachel Hollander
847-791-2066
[email protected]

SOURCE Endeavor Health