New Agreement First Step Toward Advancing Efforts in Genomic Medicine to Open up New Possibilities in Customized Patient Care Paths
LOS ANGELES and DALLAS, July 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — National LambdaRail (NLR) and AT&T* today jointly announced the first step toward a networking solution to virtually connect major cancer centers, universities, medical schools, research hospitals, laboratories and other institutions across the United States to help transform the healthcare industry’s ability to diagnose, prevent, treat and/or manage illness and medical conditions of all kinds.
NLR is the nation’s premier advanced research communications network and plays a key role in helping connect researchers in the area of genomic medicine – treating a patient based on his or her specific genetic profile. With some chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer, a patient may not respond to a particular treatment due to differences in the genetic code.
AT&T will deliver high bandwidth connectivity to NLR’s national network infrastructure for leading health sciences institutions, starting with Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. “Saint John’s is delighted to be the first hospital in the country to connect,” said Lou Lazatin, President and CEO of Saint John’s Health Center. “This will allow Saint John’s and its cancer research subsidiary, the renowned John Wayne Cancer Institute, to create a gene sequencing center enabling identification of genetic, genomic, and clinical information to tailor treatment and targeted therapies to each individual’s disease.”
NLR Chairman and CEO Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong described the agreement as “a major advance towards an integrated, robust and secure healthcare information infrastructure for the United States. Working closely with AT&T, NLR plans to offer medical organizations the data handling capacity to make genomic medicine a reality — no longer confined to researchers, but a transformative tool in the hands of doctors at the point of care. This is the first step to bring genomic science directly to the clinical world of genomic pathology in a way that will support treatment decisions and improved clinical outcomes.”
“Our AT&T ForHealth(SM) vision is that technology and smart networks can help create a healthier world, and these connections will help healthcare providers improve the quality of patient care and outcomes,” said William Archer, President of Advanced Solutions, AT&T Business and Home Solutions. “As NLR creates a national intranet of health, we plan to help them manage complexity, control costs, improve productivity, and deploy applications and technology infrastructure to advance continuous improvement in healthcare.”
AT&T has agreed to provide the middle and last mile connections to NLR’s nationwide backbone infrastructure. NLR and AT&T are working together on an expanded relationship to simplify the IT design, management, and evolution of the NLR network. By having AT&T manage the network, NLR will be able to focus on advancing efforts in genomic medicine, bringing evidence-based medicine to the point of care to help providers customize patient care paths. The ultimate goal of the broader solution is to connect virtually all of the nation’s key academic, healthcare and research institutions to accelerate the translation of new science into therapy and better healthcare.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
About Saint John’s Health Center
Since its founding in 1942 by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Saint John’s Health Center has been providing the patients and families of Santa Monica, West Los Angeles and ocean communities with breakthrough medicine and inspired healing. Saint John’s provides a spectrum of treatment and diagnostic services with distinguished areas of excellence in cancer care, spine, orthopedics, women’s health, cardiac care and specialized programs such as the internationally acclaimed John Wayne Cancer Institute. Saint John’s is dedicated to bringing to the community the most innovative advances in medicine and technology. For more information, visit www.newstjohns.org
About the John Wayne Cancer Institute
Since 1981, the John Wayne name has been committed by the Wayne family to groundbreaking cancer research and education in memory of their father, who died of cancer. The John Wayne Cancer Institute has received worldwide acclaim for advances in melanoma (skin cancer), breast and colon cancer as well as for immune therapy of cancer. Other areas of research include prostate and liver cancer. With its unique ability to rapidly turn scientific breakthroughs into innovative approaches to treatment and early detection, the Institute provides immediate hope to cancer patients around the globe. For more information, visit www.jwci.org.
About NLR
National LambdaRail is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization founded by the research and education community. It connects over 280 sites, including universities and federal laboratories, which use NLR’s 12,000 miles of high performance optical fiber in the United States and its connections to overseas networks for leading edge research, medical science, and patient care. Users include NASA, NOAA and NIH. NLR creates opportunities for collaboration, innovation and commercialization among the global research community as well as public and private partners. It also provides customized support for individual researchers and projects. For more information please visit www.nlr.net
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T │DIRECTV brands. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world.
Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed atwww.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT.
© 2012 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. Mobile broadband not available in all areas. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Information set forth in this press release contains financial estimates and other forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future results is contained in AT&T’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any obligation to update and revise statements contained in this news release based on new information or otherwise.
PR Archives: Latest, By Company, By Date