The Precision Medicine Optimist: Damon Hostin, Illumina

Damon Hostin has had an active and exciting journey in genomic medicine.  He’s now at Illumina, where his title is illuminative:  Lead, Health System Market Access.A regular on the precision medicine stage, Damon has some insights into what he calls the “blindingly fast progression” of genomic medicine that should convince the most jaded of its critics.  Compared to other areas of medicine, we are witnessing a rapid uptake of new science.  Damon’s biography includes work at Celera in the age of the Drosophila and Human Genome papers and at a large community health system, Catholic Health Initiatives, where he was in charge of precision medicine.   At Illumina, he’s part of the large vision of seeing that genomic medicine has every chance at adoption.Today, we ask Damon what has changed about access to genomic testing in the past five years and where we are seeing success. Damon brings a refreshingly optimistic viewpoint to the show. We talk about everything from PGx testing to whole genome sequencing, which he calls an “amazing win” for reimbursement. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe