Report: Top Harvard Researcher Joining Google X's Baseline Study
By Jof Enriquez,
Follow me on Twitter @jofenriq
A top cardiologist and researcher at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital is reportedly joining the life sciences division at Google X to head the Baseline Study genomics project.
According to Forbes’ Larry Husten, Jessica Mega, M.D., has left her top academic and clinical position at Harvard to head Baseline Study. Dr. Mega was a senior investigator with the TIMI Study Group, where she played a leading role in several important clinical trials, including ATLAS ACS-TIMI 46 and ATLAS ACS 2-TIMI 51 with the anticoagulant rivaroxaban. She was also the lead investigator of the ELEVATE-TIMI 56 trial, which studied effects of clopidogrel based on CYP2C19 genotype.
Her TIMI profile states that she is on leave of absence, and a Google spokesperson recently confirmed with Forbes that she is “on leave from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.”
Dr. Mega brings her knowledge and expertise on genetics and biomarkers to Google X’s Baseline Study. First announced nearly a year ago, the project aims to gather genetic and molecular data from 175 anonymous participants at its initial phase. The goal is to map out the most complete picture yet of a normal human body. From this, researchers hope to find out how diseases develop and devise drugs and therapies to prevent them. The project is run out of Google X’s life sciences division.
“This research is intended as a contribution to science; it’s not intended to generate a new product at Google,” the company said in a previous statement. “That said, a study like this could unlock lots of ideas for future projects, not just at Google but across the health and technology industries. That’s why we plan to make the study and its underlying results available for qualified researchers in health to use for their own medical efforts.”
Google has partnered with the medical schools at Duke University and Stanford University to oversee Baseline Study, which followed another high profile “moonshot” health initiative called Calico.
According to the Forbes article, Bob Harrington, who is chairman of Stanford’s Department of Medicine, said that he was “thrilled by Google’s recruitment of Jessica to join the team working with our group and Duke. She was an inspired choice: smart, insightful, experienced, great communicator etc. She understands the science and the operations of clinical research given her TIMI background.”
Robert Califf, who reportedly played a key role in bringing the trial to Duke, told Forbes, “Dr. Mega has all the skills and temperament to lead this effort for Google, which will break new ground for precision medicine and complement the Precision Medicine Initiative. Her scientific knowledge, experience in clinical trials and positive personality are a great fit.”
Califf is currently the Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco at the FDA.