September 30, 2009
Ryan Phelan, CEO and founder of DNA Direct, is this year’s recipient of the Award for Patient Service from the Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
When Phelan launched DNA Direct in 2005, she believed that genomics would transform health care, she says.
“My promise at that time was to start with the people we knew would benefit most, and evolve our offerings as the landscape unfolded,” Phelan says. ”So we began with services for consumers. By helping consumers access state-of-the-art genetic testing and interpretation, we knew we could make a difference in their health care.”
DNA Direct delivers guidance and decision support for genomic medicine to patients, providers and payers. DNA Direct’s clinical leadership team includes two medical geneticists and a national call center of board-certified genetic counselors. The company has developed a technology platform to provide Web-based decision support solutions that enable individuals and health-care professionals to understand the appropriateness, implications and interpretation of genetic and molecular diagnostic testing, ultimately resulting in more informed decisions. The incorporation of pharmacogenomics into the work of DNA Direct recognizes the increase in the use of genetics in medical practice.
The IPIT patient-service award honors a person who has made significant contributions to empowering patients and who champions patient focus in the advancement of rational drug therapy.
“Ms. Phelan’s work has dramatically improved patient access to genetic information,” says Howard McLeod, Pharm.D., director of IPIT. “Her vision to empower patients by providing them with the information about their own genetics ultimately makes these consumers more informed participants in their own health-care choices.”
The award also acknowledges Phelan’s earlier work to empower patients with the founding of Direct Medical Knowledge, an extensive consumer health Web site highly regarded for its unique content depth and innovative search interface. DMK developed proprietary software that enabled users to drill down through the most current medical literature and retrieve personalized health and medical information. In 1999 Direct Medical Knowledge was acquired by WebMD, and DMK’s content became the backbone of WebMD’s consumer health site.
As the founding director of Planetree, a nonprofit consumer health-care organization, Phelan helped create a national model for humanizing hospitals and a national model for providing health information to the public.
McLeod will present the award to Phelan during a ceremony on Oct. 6 at 4 p.m. in seminar room CG222, Level G, in the newly opened North Carolina Cancer Hospital. Phelan will present a seminar entitled “Integrating Genomic Medicine into Patient Care” with a reception immediately following.
Watch the Award Presentation and Seminar
UNC Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy
The institute was formed in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as a collaborative effort with the School of Medicine, Gillings School of Global Public Health, and the School of Nursing and with support from the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Carolina Center for Genome Sciences. Pharmacogenetics is the study of how genetic variation among individuals contributes to differences in the way people respond to medicines.
Leadership in key areas of pharmacogenomic research is fostered by contiguous office and laboratory space that bolster collaboration and enable the development of comprehensive research investigations and treatment tools. IPIT also offers the services of core facilities in molecular genomics, cellular phenotyping and bioinformatics to add to the excellent core facilities already existing at UNC.
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