Rutgers’ New Chair in Genomic Named After Omar Boraie

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey is the only National Cancer Institute in the state devoted to improving the diagnosis, treatment, and care of individuals with cancer. The Institute achieves this by transforming laboratory discoveries into clinical practice, therefore, overcoming cancer with science. Rutgers Cancer Institute provides unmatched cancer care to children and adults through access to modern advancements in innovative cancer research, cancer clinical trials and genomic cancer analysis.

The institute is one of the first centers in the country and the only one in New Jersey to use genomic science and precision medicine as a weapon in fighting cancer. The center uses this technique precisely in fighting rare types of cancer and those that are not responsive. In late 2015, Rutgers University established a chair to acknowledge achievements attained in this field.

According to Patch.com, among the new chairs established by the cancer institute’s ’18 Chair Challenge’ initiative is the Chair in Genomic Science. This honor is named after Omar Boraie, a New Brunswick developer, and the owner of Boraie Development, LLC. The chair was named in honor of Omar Boraie due to his extensive background in chemistry and a deep-rooted interest in cancer research. The most exciting part of this new chair is the pledge of $1.5 million from an anonymous donor to match the 18 chairs resulting in a $3 million endowment per chair. Omar Boraie commented that he was hopeful that the pledge would probe other donors to support the initiative.

Dr. Shridar Ganesan was named the Omar Boraie chair in November 2016. Dr. Ganesan is an associate professor of medicine and pharmacology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He works at Rutgers Cancer Institute as a principal investigator and an associate director for translational science.

Genomic science is an emerging medical discipline that is used to diagnose, treat and assess the risk of a disease based on a patient’s genetic make-up and gene expression patterns. Physician-scientists at Rutgers Cancer Institute have learned over the years that cancer is not a single disease but rather an assortment of diseases, each with different characteristics. Therefore instead of determining the type of cancer by the organ in which it affects, scientists use genomic analysis to classify patients based on the features of each cancer patient. This, in turn, guides doctors to a more precise cancer therapy. The use of precision medicine and genomic science are currently transforming how cancer is being diagnosed and treated.

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Boraie Development LLC: https://www.bloomberg.com/profiles/companies/0601263D:US-boraie-development-llc