Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support this important private member's motion by my good friend and colleague the member for Ryan. All medical professionals drive to maximise the effectiveness of their treatments for patients. Becoming more accurate, precise, proactive and impactful for each individual in our healthcare system has always been the goal of all clinicians, no matter how basic the tools at their disposal.

The development of precision medicine is providing clinicians the chance to take this mission far beyond the reach of generations gone by. I've been privileged to work alongside thousands of medical researchers pushing the boundaries of the genomics revolution for the benefit of all.

Precision medicine is affording us the opportunity to analyse a person's genetic make-up and target treatments based on their specific needs. While medicine has always had predictive and targeted aspects, the development of precision medicine allows health and disease to be viewed at an increasingly fine-grained resolution, attuned to the complexities of both the biology of each individual and the variation among the population. Precision medicine has the capacity to make a real difference in our healthcare system and for all Australians through three distinct avenues. First and foremost, diagnosing and preventing genetic disease has been transformed by the genomics revolution.

Tragically, at least two per cent of all children are affected by a severe developmental or intellectual disability which can result from damage to any one of thousands of genes that encode the proteins we need to function. Genome sequencing can now identify 40 to 60 per cent of genes at the root of such developmental and intellectual disabilities. These advances are giving parents and doctors the answers they need to improve treatment. I'd like to give a shout-out to the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, where I've worked for more than 25 years, for the amazing work that they have been doing in this field, where they are leading both nationally and internationally.

Next is cancer diagnosis and treatment. Identification of the distinct genes at the root of different cancer treatments is key to finding a cure. Already the advancements in genetic screening have yielded life-changing findings. Imatinib is a targeted biological therapy that blocks cancer growth through the inhibition of tyrosine kinese and is one such drug that is already improving the lives of many Australians.

This new understanding of oncogenic mechanisms has begun to influence risk assessment, therapeutic strategies and the targeting of drugs and antibodies designed to counter the influence of specific molecular drivers. These will improve the way we anticipate, prevent, diagnose and treat cancers—both urgent and evolving.

Genomically-informed cancer treatments are already yielding spectacular results for patients around the world. That is why the Morrison government's significant investment in precision medicine research, including as part of the recently announced $440 million in the National Health and Medical Research Council grants, is key in ensuring that patients reap the benefits of these developments.

Precision medicine, however, is not solely applicable to the oncology ward. At present, a high proportion of hospital admissions in our healthcare system are due to adverse reactions to prescribed medications. Indeed, many medications currently prescribed around the country may yield little or no results in some patients. This is called pharmacogenomics Such results are due to the unique nature of liver enzymes that each of us have, like a fingerprint in our bodies. It is due to the fact that there's a difference in these liver enzymes that means that we each process and metabolise drugs differently.

At present, and by necessity, prescription medicines are targeted at the average metabolic outcome for a patient. However, imagine a world where each of us could be screened prior to prescription to ensure that the style of medicine and dosage were personally tailored to our genome to ensure the best results for each of our required treatments. This is the future of medicine, and it's not far off.

I'm excited by the prospects of such advancements and encourage the government and private enterprise to continue to invest in the requisite means to keep Australia at the forefront of medical advances and improve the healthcare outcomes for everyday Australians.

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