Overview

In an era of landmark discoveries and expanding knowledge of the brain, people diagnosed with neurological diseases need innovators on the front lines of research armed with extensive training and equipped with the latest tools.

The Precision Neurotherapeutics Innovation Program at Mayo Clinic is a dynamic collaboration between the Neurosurgery Simulation and Innovations Laboratory led by Bernard R. Bendok, M.D., and the Mathematical Neuro-Oncology Laboratory led by Kristin R. Swanson, Ph.D. The program's mission is to deploy bold, personalized mathematical modeling and neural bioengineering approaches to improve the lives of people with neurological diseases.

Partnering to revolutionize and personalize medicine

People with neurological diseases need answers, therapies and cures tailored to their unique conditions rather than a one-size-fits-all approach that ignores an important reality: These diseases are complex, sometimes confounding and always life-changing.

The Precision Neurotherapeutics Innovation Program at Mayo Clinic involves a team of experts across the fields of neuroscience, mathematics, bioengineering, computer science, neurosurgery and advanced imaging analytics collaborating to deliver more precise and effective therapies in previously unimaginable ways.

Together, these experts tackle this central question: How can we deliver the most precise and effective therapies available to improve the lives of people with neurological diseases?

There is no 'average' person

A person diagnosed with a glioblastoma asks a Mayo Clinic physician, "What now?"

Standard treatment options — including surgery, radiation or chemotherapy — work, but they don't work perfectly for everyone. No two people are the same, and without treatment plans tailored to the individual, some may not benefit from these standard treatment options.

Mayo Clinic has assembled a team focused on recognizing, quantifying, integrating and simulating the intricacies that make the dynamics of neurological disease unique in each person to develop precise therapies and individual treatment plans.

Personalized simulation

Simulation is a vital component in high-stakes industries such as aviation and health care, in which multidisciplinary teams use advanced technology. Simulation can:

• Help physicians and nurses identify the best treatment for each individual
• Create an environment of innovation based on individual simulations
• Train surgeons to become better and faster at performing more-efficient, minimally invasive surgeries
• Enhance teamwork, confidence and safety by enabling testing of innovative ideas and techniques