Arizona hospital joins others nationwide to improve pediatric heath

TUSCON — Six of the country’s leading hospitals, including Diamond Children’s Medical Center in Tucson, are joining forces in an effort to improve pediatric health. 

Banner Children’s at Diamond Medical Center has signed an agreement to help form the Sanford Children’s Genomic Medicine Consortium.

“Banner Children’s is pleased to be a part of this innovative effort to give hope to children and families throughout the nation,” Banner CEO Tom Dickson said in a press release. “The agreement will create innovative joint research programs and combine research capabilities to expedite genetic and genomic discoveries that will save lives.”

Other founding members include Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, Children’s Hospital Colorado, and Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.

Inspired by the vision of philanthropist Denny Sanford, the consortium will be committed to betting the heath of all children through the use of genomic medicine. This type of care uses genetic and genomic information to help personalize treatment plans for each child.

“Bringing all of these great facilities and brilliant minds together is a major step in improving treatments and finding cures for what ails kids,” said Sanford. “There is clear value in bringing these teams together with unified goals and my hope is that it will speed up necessary advancements so children won’t have to suffer.”

In addition, the consortium has established an external scientific advisory board, which will provide guidance on the scientific direction of the groups efforts. The board will include representation for industry leaders such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, and the National Human Genome Research Institute.