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Science Cafe focuses on personalized medicine

By Katie Knapp Schubert

Omaha, NE – Personalized medicine is the focus of UNMC's latest Science Caf .

The field of personalized medicine studies how drug therapies can be tailored to meet an individual's needs. It's a move away from a one-size-fits-all approach commonly used to treat people suffering from serious conditions, such as cancer or HIV.

"You have individuals who do not receive the individual effects of the drug, and you have ones who develop adverse reactions, some of which can be very serious reactions to drug therapy," says Dr. Courtney Fletcher, Dean of UNMC's College of Pharmacy. "So the goal of personalized medicine is to try to improve, if you will, those individuals who either are not receiving the desired response or who are developing adverse reactions to a drug."

Dr. Fletcher says personalized medicine focuses in part on how people's bodies metabolize certain drugs. By knowing that, doctors can individualize treatment for a patient.

The Science Caf begins at 7 PM at the Slowdown.