On Oct. 21, 2015, the Omar Boraie Chair in Genomic Science was established at Rutgers Cancer Institute. The chair is named for New Brunswick developer Omar Boraie, who has made a $1.5 million pledge to support it.

The field of genomic science and precision medicine is changing how medical professionals approach cancer diagnosis and treatment. Relatively new, it involves analyzing and treating tumors on a genetic level, allowing oncologists to prescribe individualized therapies for better outcomes. Attesting to its national importance during his most recent State of the Union Address, President Obama announced the launch of a national Precision Medicine Initiative focused on finding a cure for cancer and other diseases.

Although several cancer centers are performing next-generation gene sequencing on tumors for research, Rutgers Cancer Institute was one of the first facilities in the country and the only one in the state to apply genomic sequencing as a precision medicine approach to patient care. Genomic sequencing has been especially valuable in finding novel therapies for those who have rare cancers, poorer prognoses, and/or whose treatment options have been limited or ineffective. Advances in precision medicine increase the ability to classify cancers into subpopulations with similar characteristics but different genetics in order to predict better patient outcomes as well as determine individualized cancer therapies.