HudsonAlpha clinic for genomic medicine opens
HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - The medical clinic of the future opened Friday.The Smith Family Clinic for Genomic Medicine in Huntsville's Research Park may be the last stop for answers to the medical mysteries that plague a desperate 80,000,000 in this country.
They are looking for hope but HudsonAlpha is confident they've get much more.
Little Nic Volker is now 11-years-old, but for the first five years of his life, he struggled minute by minute to survive.
Doctors kept treating him for an apparent bowel disease, but nothing worked.
Nic was dying and no one knew why.
It wasn't until researchers, not physicians did something revolutionary.
"They sequenced Nic's DNA for a diagnosis," said AmyLynne Santiago-Volker, Nic's mom.
Nic's problem was an immune disorder, not a bowel disease.
A needle in the genomic haystack that gave doctors answers and a treatment plan.
A "eureka" moment, that those at HudsonAlpha want to duplicate.
READ MORE: HudsonAlpha awarded $1.9M to identify genomic variants that affect disease risk
Today, after 170 surgeries, 10 bouts with sepsis, and one true death experience, Nic's future is bright and his voice, strong.
The new Smith Family Clinic for Genomic Medicine stands in the shadow of Adtran, the late Mark Smith co-founded.
Smith was an engineer, always wanted to be a researcher and was actually on a diagnostic odyssey of his own when he died.
The clinic will hopefully help others who need answers.
The clinic opens Monday, and they expect a handful of patients at first on site and through telemedicine remotely.
Right now, insurance in Alabama does not cover whole genome sequencing.
Out of pocket costs could be about $6,500, but there is great hope that Alabama insurance providers will start to cover this after all Nic Volker's mom says Nic's medical costs so far have exceeded $6,000,000.
Imagine if $6,000 had been spent on his DNA test, how much time and money would have been saved.
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