May 19, 2021 (Huntsville, Ala.) – East Alabama Health (formerly East Alabama Medical Center) is expanding the employee genomic health program it offers through The HudsonAlpha Health Alliance, LLC.
This new component will offer pharmacogenomic testing to eligible employees, and their covered dependents, interested in learning more about their response to certain medications. Participating employees will provide a saliva sample which will be analyzed by the HudsonAlpha Health Alliance for genetic markers that provide information on how medications interact with the body.
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East Alabama Health is excited to restart the pharmacogenomic program with the HudsonAlpha Health Alliance,” said Susan Johnston, vice president of human resources at East Alabama Health. “After the past year of COVID-19 and all our employees have given to the community, we are excited to be able to provide them access to a program that can potentially help them with their health. As with the previous program, our intention is to help improve the overall long term health of our employees and provide them and their physicians with as much information to make the best health care decisions for them.”
The voluntary program expands on the pilot program launched in January of 2020, which offers genomic health screening to select employees eligible to participate based on their current cholesterol levels.
“This is exactly what the HudsonAlpha Health Alliance is all about – collaborating with groups to develop customized genomic health screening programs for their employees,” said Devin Absher, PhD, director of genomic health at HudsonAlpha. “We were honored to pilot this program with East Alabama Health last year and are excited that it’s being expanded to include even more employees and their dependents.”
For more information about how the HudsonAlpha Health Alliance can help develop a customized genomic screening program for your group, visit https://hudsonalpha.org/alliance or email info@hahealthalliance.org.
About HudsonAlpha: HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology is a nonprofit institute dedicated to developing and applying scientific advances to health, agriculture, learning, and commercialization. Opened in 2008, HudsonAlpha’s vision is to leverage the synergy between discovery, education, medicine, and economic development in genomic sciences to improve the human condition around the globe. The HudsonAlpha biotechnology campus consists of 152 acres nestled within Cummings Research Park, the nation’s second largest research park. The state-of-the-art facilities co-locate nonprofit scientific researchers with entrepreneurs and educators. HudsonAlpha has become a national and international leader in genetics and genomics research and biotech education and fosters more than 40 diverse biotech companies on campus. To learn more about HudsonAlpha, visit hudsonalpha.org.
About HudsonAlpha Health Alliance: By integrating our expertise in genomics, patient engagement and education, as well as clinical decision support, the HudsonAlpha Health Alliance, LLC works with groups such as health systems, physician networks, and self-insured employers to develop customized genomic health screening programs for their patient or employee populations.
