Hosted by Wyss Core Faculty David R. Walt, PhD, Diagnostics Grand Rounds brings clinicians with unmet needs to the Wyss Institute. The goal of these sessions is to inform technology developers about important clinical problems that can help them direct their technology development efforts. Presenters are asked to identify diagnostic needs that will have an impact on the quality of care they deliver.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a leading cause of death world-wide. Globally there remains underdiagnosis in women and there are critical areas of need for bench to bedside innovations to combat disparities and to improve the health and lives of all people living with COPD. More research is needed to refine the clinical differences in COPD impacted by sex (as a biologic construct) and gender (as a social construct). In addition, biomarker, genetic and genomic research must proceed using statistically powered approaches to address sex and gender associations. We are at an inflection point in the collaborative needs of science and big data analytics-21st century precision medicine will find advancement through methodologic innovation in Network Medicine, which leverages the tools of systems biology and big data toward medical innovation (from prevention to therapeutic intervention). After framing key clinical observations related to sex and gender differences in COPD, we will highlight methodologic insights into genomic analysis addressing sex and gender, and conclude with a vision for addressing a framework for improving the (lung) health of men and women through sex/gender aware Network Medicine.