Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services, has identified Personalized Health Care as one of his top priorities, and has outlined new steps that HHS is taking to achieving gene-based medical care combined with health information technology.

Addressing members and guests of the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC) on March 23, 2007 -- at the organization’s annual gathering at the National Press Club to spotlight progress in the field -- Secretary Leavitt noted that his Initiative is designed to improve the safety, quality, and effectiveness of heath care for every patient in the United States.   Read more

Secretary Leavitt shares with The Age of Personalized Medicine his vision for transforming the health care system

Q: Secretary Leavitt, why did you identify Personalized Health Care as one of your priorities, along with such issues as Pandemic Flu preparedness and the post-Katrina Louisiana Health Care system?

A: It’s clear to me, and to many others in government and throughout the health care enterprise, that we’re on the threshold of a new era made possible by phenomenal leaps forward in two areas: first, new discoveries in bioscience, especially human genomics; and second, new tools in the computer age – meaning health information technology. These great leaps will enable us to give better care to all patients – by targeting the unique biology of every patient.