Timely Topics

The Genomics Organization for Academic Laboratories (GOAL): A Model for Cooperation in a Competitive and Uncertain Era for Academic Pathology

Tuesday, March 14, 2023 – 4:30 – 5:50 PM

Great Hall A

Jeremy Segal, MD, PhD

The University of Chicago

Course Description

The continued advancements in life science technology that we are witnessing hold incredible promise for improved diagnostics and patient care.  However, this tidal wave of innovation places enormous pressure on pathologists and medicine as a whole.   Incorporating the latest technologies into diagnostic clinical practice has been complicated by enormous technical hurdles and increasing levels of competition, while at the same time, reimbursement policies have become ever more uncertain.  Molecular pathology laboratories, particularly at academic medical centers, have acutely experienced this disruptive challenge.  However, each institution has generally worked on all aspects of genomic testing implementation independently, resulting in substantial inefficiency.  Against this backdrop, the Genomics Organization for Academic Laboratories (GOAL) was formed by a number of academic institutions to support cooperative genomic diagnostics development and to serve as a central facilitator for scientific projects and industry-sponsored collaborations.  This has resulted in accelerated test development, substantial cost savings for participating institutions, and the potential for more optimal patient care.  As GOAL expands, additional efforts are aimed at areas that will maximally impact laboratory sustainability.  This lecture will discuss the formation and activities of the GOAL consortium and will consider lessons learned from the GOAL effort to date that may be applied to other areas of our field.  

Biography

Jeremy Segal, MD, PhD is the director of Molecular and Cytogenetic Pathology and Associate Professor of Pathology at The University of Chicago.  He completed his MD and PhD at Weill Cornell Medical College and The Rockefeller University in New York City as part of the Tri-Institutional MD/PhD program.  After graduating, he stayed at New York Presbyterian Hospital – Weill Cornell Medical Center for Anatomic Pathology residency training, and then moved to the University of Pennsylvania for fellowship training in Molecular Genetic Pathology.  After fellowship, he served as an Instructor in Clinical Investigation at Rockefeller University and as the Director of Clinical Development and Policy for the New York Genome Center before joining the faculty at the University of Chicago in 2013 to spearhead the development of their next generation sequencing (NGS) personalized oncology diagnostics program.  At UChicago, Dr. Segal is focused on the clinical development and implementation of advanced genomic testing methodologies to help diagnose and manage patients with solid tumors and hematological malignancies.  He is also a Co-Founder of the Genomics Organization for Academic Laboratories (GOAL), a consortium effort dedicated to the advancement of genomic testing at academic and non-profit laboratories.