Jennifer Buhay, PhD, MB(ASCP)CM

Clinical Program Manager for USON Oncology Precision Medicine

Dr. Jennifer Buhay is the clinical manager for the US Oncology Precision Medicine Program.  She is leading 450 practices nationwide in building out biomarker testing capabilities with decision support, IT interfaces, molecular tumor boards, and genomics education.  Previously, Dr. Buhay was Precision Medicine Program administrator at Gibbs Cancer Center for bringing next-generation sequencing to a community hospital in South Carolina.  She is board-certified as a Molecular Biologist through American Society of Clinical Pathology, and completed her PhD in Molecular Genetics and Bioinformatics at Brigham Young University in 2006.   Dr. Buhay is revolutionizing biomarker testing processes and workflows so that every patient receives the appropriate tests for treatment decisions.  Fixing this broken system, connecting healthcare silos, and building infrastructure are what keeps her up at night, and gets her up in the morning. 

Precision Medicine requires a new way of thinking, and not just in genomic expertise.  Implementation science is at the heart of bringing personalized care to community oncology.  Precision Medicine is personal to the patient, but it’s also personal to the practice and the physician.  There are five pillars of a Precision Medicine program, and each of these will be discussed as a roadmap for how to bridge practice gaps and build the necessary infrastructure to keep up with emerging technologies.  Biomarker testing is extremely complicated and multi-disciplinary, and there is no “easy button” to press.  Navigation services and dedicated IT are critical components for the tumor testing journey, with an end goal of making sense of gene sequence data at the point of care for targeted treatment options and better outcomes.  Community hospitals and practices can “do Precision Medicine” too.