The Research Evangelist

MEET JOHNATHAN WHETSTINE Me and Johnathan outside his lab in Charlestown, MA I had the privilege of interviewing Johnathan Whetstine , a cancer researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, at his laboratory to get his perspective on precision medicine. Johnathan’s field is cancer epigenetics. His lab investigates how the microenvionment around DNA controls gene expression while maintaining a stable genome. I thought he’d be the perfect person to give me historical context of precision medicine and what role basic scientific research plays in the process. “If you ask me as a basic scientist, the beauty of precision medicine is that you are starting to apply mechanistic knowledge in the context of how individuals will be diagnosed and treated.  By applying knowledge from laboratory settings, the medical community can make better decisions about what biomarkers to use as well as make predictions about the response,” said Johnathan.   He added, “By taking this approach, you’r