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Dear Jason,


This newsletter kicks off a new series of Investigator Spotlights, in which we interview a CIAPM-funded researcher to highlight their contributions to precision medicine. Dr. Elad Ziv (UCSF) is Lead PI of a current CIAPM research project in cancer disparities that includes partnerships with three community-based organizations and five other health and academic centers. He explains how his project addresses cancer disparities, why this project differs from those that are funded on the national level, and accomplishments thus far.


Read further for updates about CIAPM’s budget hearings and outreach in the legislature, and the California Precision Medicine Advisory Council's progress toward equitable consent frameworks and data integration of social determinants of health. As ever, we also provide a snapshot of external events and an updated list of funding and other opportunities.


In partnership,

The CIAPM Team

CIAPM Investigator Spotlight: Dr. Elad Ziv, UCSF

In our first CIAPM Investigator Spotlight, we feature Elad Ziv, MD, Professor of Medicine and member of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Institute for Human Genetics at UCSF. Since 2019, Dr. Ziv and his team have worked on his CIAPM-funded project, Addressing Disparities in Breast Cancer in Latinas: A Multi-Tiered Approach


What are the major goals of your project, and how does the project address cancer health disparities in California?

This project is focused on understanding the genomic variants affecting breast cancer risk and progression among Latinas. Latina women are one of the largest demographic groups in California and breast cancer is the most common cancer in this group, like women from every population. However, we know a lot less about breast cancer in Latina women. Our project seeks to identify the inherited genetic variants that affect Latinas’ risk of developing cancer. We are also studying genetic changes in Latinas’ breast tumors, which may affect the way breast cancer progresses and could also affect treatment outcomes. Very little work of this kind has been done in this population. 

Read the rest of this interview on CIAPM's website
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Dr. Laura Fejerman, who is a Co-Investigator for Dr. Elad Ziv's project Improving Precision Medicine for Breast Cancer in Latinas: A Multi-Tiered Approach, recently participated in a Cancer Moonshot roundtable led by Dr. Jill Biden. The event was part of the Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference at Mays Cancer Center. Dr. Fejerman discussed her work on Latino cancer equity, including the impacts of this CIAPM funded research.

Watch the roundtable discussion
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Jill Biden, EdD; Laura Fejerman, PhD, MsC. Image courtesy of UT Health San Antonio.

Program Updates

Goodbye to CIAPM Fellow Jessica Lumian 

At the end of March, CIAPM’s Policy Fellow Jessica Lumian will conclude nearly 11 months with the team. In May 2021 she was hired as an intern to assist with the California Precision Medicine Asset Inventory revamp. She immediately began building the Asset Inventory’s new ArcGIS platform and underlying database. Her contributions to this project were outstanding, and she was invited to stay for a longer term as a Policy Fellow. Since then she has led the development of CIAPM’s first comprehensive impact assessment, which will be released later this year.


Jessica has concluded her PhD in Microbiology at UC Davis, and recently gave an exit seminar on her dissertation research. In the immediate future Jessica will work as a postdoctoral scholar for the NIH Common Fund Data Ecosystem Coordinating Center and co-instruct a bioinformatics course at UC Davis.


Her last day is March 28. We thank her for her dedication to CIAPM and wish her well as she takes the next step in her career!

Welcome New Science Fellow Dr. Alex Colón-Rodríguez 

Alexandra Colón-Rodríguez, PhD, is a Science and Technology Policy Fellow, funded and supported by the California Council on Science and Technology. During her one-year fellowship in the Governor's Office of Planning and Research, she will serve as CIAPM's Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Program Officer, overseeing its portfolio of seven ACEs research projects. Additionally, she will join OPR colleagues on a cross-departmental team tasked with developing OPR’s Racial Equity Action Plan.


Previously, Dr. Colón-Rodríguez was a postdoctoral research fellow in neuroscience, and a Science Communication Program Director at UC Davis.

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Alexandra Colón-Rodríguez, PhD

Over the last decade, Dr. Colón-Rodríguez has served as a mentor and educator, guiding over 30 scholars in neuroscience research, and many more in other fields of study. Her teaching and community outreach efforts include neuroscience, science communication, and policy. Additionally, she founded the STEAM100X35 initiative which is focused on amplifying the work of Puerto Rican women in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM), and encouraging the next generation of STEAM professionals through outreach activities. 

Dr. Colón-Rodríguez obtained a dual major PhD in Neuroscience and Environmental Toxicology from Michigan State University, and a bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from Universidad Ana G. Méndez-Recinto de Carolina.

CIAPM Represented at Annual Latina History Day 

Hispanas Organized for Political Equality invited Co-Director Dr. Julianne McCall to speak at the 31st Annual Latina History Day. Dr. McCall highlighted CIAPM's ACEs and cancer disparities projects as examples of partnerships between communities and researchers that address racial equity and align scientific outcomes with community priorities.

Learn more about Latina History Day

California State Budget Update

CIAPM has two funding proposals in the 2022-23 budget: $10 million for depression research and $9.25 million to increase diversity in biomedical research participation. Since Governor Newsom announced the 2022-23 state budget in January, two budget subcommittees have discussed CIAPM’s proposals. OPR leadership and CIAPM staff answered thoughtful questions from legislators who were generally supportive and enthusiastic about CIAPM’s work. Beyond committee hearings CIAPM’s Co-Directors have met with several legislative offices to provide information about the program. 

More significant budget updates are expected with the May Revision. 

View CIAPM's testimony at Senate Budget Subcommittee #4

Note: CIAPM discussion begins at 26:45

See an overview of California's budget process

Advisory Council Updates

Welcome New Council Members

In February, the California Precision Medicine Advisory Council happily welcomed two new members: Dr. Devika Bhushan, California’s acting Surgeon General; and Corrin Buchanan, Deputy Director for Policy and Strategic Planning at California’s Health and Human Services Agency. Dr. Bhushan brings years of experience as an equity-centered pediatrician focused primarily on ACEs and toxic stress. Corrin Buchanan has a long history of public service, previously holding positions at the California Department of Social Services, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, and the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Their full bios can be found on our advisory council webpage. We look forward to benefiting from their considerable expertise, and we thank them for their valuable contribution to CIAPM! 

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Devika Bhushan, MD, FAAP

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Corrin Buchanan, MPP

Working Groups 

The Equitable Consent Working Group members adopted a plan for a phased rollout of content for its website Equitable Engagement and Consent in Research. The first phase, to be released this summer, will have information and resources for research participants. If you are interested in contributing to this project, please email shannon.muir@opr.ca.gov


At the most recent Data Integration Working Group meeting on January 25, members began discussing how a knowledge network may be developed and used to better connect research data with long-term outcomes and indicators to increase use of real-world evidence in biomedical progress. In partnership with the Office of the California Surgeon General and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, further conversations are underway. To nominate an expert to inform this project, please email julianne.mccall@opr.ca.gov.  

Learn more about the working groups

Upcoming Advisory Council Meetings

April 14, 2022

1:30 p.m.

Equitable Consent Working Group

Register

April 18, 2022

10:00 a.m.

(rescheduled from March 29)

Data Integration Working Group

Register

May 23, 2022

Time TBD

Spring Council Meeting


View all Advisory Council Meetings

External Events

March 29, 2022

Free virtual event

PMLS Virtual Series 2022: Precision Medicine Outside of Oncology

March 30, 2022

Free webinar

Three Ways to Advance on a Path to Precision Health

View more Events

External Funding Opportunities

Innovations for Healthy Living: Improving Minority Health and Eliminating Health Disparities


NIH

Health Care Models for Persons with Multiple Chronic Conditions from Populations that Experience Health Disparities: Advancing Health Care towards Health Equity


NIH

View more Funding Opportunities
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California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine