Today, Navigenics made an important leadership announcement. Here is the text of the official press release:

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Navigenics, a leading personal genomics company, announced today that Vance Vanier, MD, has been appointed by the Board of Directors to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of the firm.

Dr. Vanier joined Navigenics as Chief Medical Officer in April of 2008 and has been instrumental in growing the company’s clinical offerings as well as institutional research and corporate partnerships. Prior to joining Navigenics, he was a partner at venture capital firm Mohr Davidow Ventures where he spent years in the molecular diagnostics industry bringing new genomic technologies into clinical practice. Vanier also serves as a clinical faculty member of Stanford University Medical Center.

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Navigenics., a leading personal genomics company, announced today that the New York State Department of Health has issued Navigenics a clinical laboratory permit and approved the offering of the company’s Navigenics® Health Compass service to New York State residents.

The permit makes Navigenics the first personalized genomics service to be licensed as a clinical laboratory by the State of New York.

The permit, issued on December 7, gives Navigenics approval for its CLIA-certified clinical laboratory to process saliva samples originating in the State of New York for the purposes of genetic testing. The permit acknowledges that the State’s Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program found the validation data for Navigenics’ test acceptable and clarifies the regulatory framework that Navigenics will operate under in New York moving forward. 

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Planning to hit the local coffeehouse, or meet a friend for tea? Here’s another reason to reach for your favorite cup.

A large new scientific analysis of coffee and tea drinkers has found that these favorites—even the decaf versions – can help reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes.

The recent research, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that every additional cup of coffee each day was associated with a seven percent reduction in the excess risk of diabetes.

The more tea or coffee a person consumed, the more diabetes risk declined. Drinking three to four cups a day meant about a 25 percent reduced diabetes risk when compared with those who drank between none and two cups day.

Even decaf made a difference.

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In recent weeks, sweeping legal changes have helped put control of your genetic information where it belongs – in your hands.

The federal Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, or GINA, is now the law of the land. The law, described by the New York Times as the “most important new anti-discrimination law in two decades,” prohibits genetic discrimination in health insurance or on the job.

When it comes to understanding your genetic makeup and using that knowledge to benefit your health, few laws matter more than this one.

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Today, Navigenics and 23andme released a joint letter addressing the Opinion piece by Pauline C. Ng, Sarah S. Murray, Samuel Levy and J. Craig Venter that appeared in the October 8, 2009 issue of Nature. Unfortunately, Nature could not publish the letter because of space restrictions, so 23andMe and Navigenics decided to publish the letter to our respective sites.

An excerpt of the joint letter is below. You can find the complete letter on our website.

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November generally makes us think of changing seasons and time with loved ones.  How fitting than that November is also National Alzheimer’s Month, a time for us to celebrate and pay tribute to those in our lives effected by Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease is a tragic neurological condition that affects many of our family members, friends, parents and grandparents. An estimated five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. For every individual with Alzheimer’s, an entire community works to support them in their daily lives.

Alzheimer’s disease is marked by loss of memory, speech, judgment, sense of direction and other brain functions. While currently no cure exists, three risk factors play an important role in your susceptibility.

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