UAB Precision Medicine

Prediction and Prevention

The best fight is the one you avoid. UAB Medicine understands that predicting and preventing disease are just as important as treating it, so our Precision Medicine program begins with understanding you. We evaluate individual characteristics, from family and medical history to lifestyle and environmental factors, to assess your risk for a range of diseases and conditions. Depending on your medical condition and individual preferences, we also offer the most advanced genomic testing and disease screening, providing a higher level of knowledge and accuracy that we can use to predict – and protect – your health.

UAB Precision Medicine offers prediction and prevention services in the following areas:

• Preconception and Prenatal Screenings: We provide the latest in preconception screening and non-invasive prenatal testing for a variety of genetic and developmental disorders. We have established a network of counseling services and other resources to help our patients understand the results and make the most informed medical decisions possible.
• Cancer Screening and Prevention: UAB is a regional and national leader in the use of genetic testing, combined with a comprehensive family, personal, and environmental history, to evaluate your risk for certain types of cancer and develop the most effective prevention plan. One of our most advanced efforts in this area is the Lynne Cohen Preventive Care Program for Women’s Cancer, which provides complete risk assessment services for breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers. The program merges expertise in multiple medical specialties with pioneering clinical research to create one of only a few programs in the nation dedicated to women’s cancers. Comprehensive risk assessment services are also available for colon cancer and many other types of common and rare malignancies.
• Memory Disorders: UAB Precision Medicine offers an extensive series of tests and personal evaluations designed to assess and address your individual risk factors for dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. We couple this testing with counseling services to help you understand the results and make the most informed decisions regarding any potential interventions.
• General Genomic Assessment and Screening: It is now possible to test an individual for risk of a number of treatable genetic conditions, and also to assess overall risk of some common conditions. UAB’s Genomic Medicine Clinic offers various approaches to genomic assessment, including sequencing of the entire genome. We also can provide an overview of how a person will respond to various medications, enabling his/her health providers to prescribe the right dose of the right medication when treatment is needed.
• Population Genomic Screening: UAB has pioneered a program to provide screening for treatable medical conditions through the Alabama Genomic Health Initiative (AGHI). We also are involved in the national All of Us Research Program, which is part of the federal Precision Medicine Initiative.