Precision Care Initiative brings genomic cancer expertise to patients across Australia
With early support from SPHERE, the Precision Care Initiative has grown into a service with national reach helping clinicians use complex genomic information to guide cancer treatment.
For people facing complex cancers, genomic testing can reveal new clues about what drives the disease and potentially guide new treatment options. But turning complex results into useful recommendations requires coordinated multidisciplinary expertise, including oncology, genomics, and health systems.
The Precision Care Initiative is helping bridge that gap through a dedicated Precision Care Clinic at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney. Led by Professor Natalie Taylor, Director of Implementation to Impact (i2i) at UNSW Sydney and Director of SPHERE’s Implementation Science Platform, it brings together the clinical, genomic and implementation expertise needed to turn complex genetic findings into practical guidance for personalised cancer care, and to guide sustainable integration of precision oncology into routine care delivery.
The clinic provides specialist interpretation of molecular and genetic findings to inform treatment planning for people with cancer across Australia. The team is also studying how the model fits into existing dynamic oncology pathways and whether it supports clinical decision-making for referring oncologists.
“Genomic testing can reveal important information about a person’s cancer, but the results do not automatically translate into a clear treatment plan,” Professor Taylor said.
“The clinic brings together the expertise needed to interpret that information in the context of the individual patient and provide practical guidance to their treating team.”
Although based in Sydney, the clinic has achieved national reach. It’s received more than 200 referrals from almost 150 clinicians across 100 cancer services, with one third of those services based in regional or rural areas. The team has delivered more than 50 molecular multidisciplinary team meetings and more than 110 patient consultations.
Patients have described the consultations as helpful and informative. They appreciated the opportunity to better understand their genomic results in relation to therapy implications, as well as the opportunity to participate in ongoing research. Many have expressed gratitude for the service accessibility, with telehealth facilitating consultations for interstate and regional patients.
Clinicians have described the service as highly valuable, with its recommendations expected to save them time and meaningfully influence treatment decision-making.
A co-design process involving 40 patients and clinicians also produced an Outcomes Framework for evaluating the clinic effectiveness, and a process map showing how the model fits into routine oncology workflows. These tools aim to be applicable across other precision healthcare contexts, to support wider integration and scale up.
The team has published a research protocol in BMJ Open and a systematic review in the Journal of Translational Medicine, and contributed to national genomics policy development, including input into the National Health Genomics Policy Framework 2026–2030.
SPHERE’s role began before the project received external funding. Through its expression of interest process, SPHERE arranged expert review and supported proposal refinement, helping the team strengthen its case for funding.
“SPHERE’s feedback helped us sharpen the proposal and clearly articulate the value of the model before we submitted it for funding,” Professor Taylor said.
“That contribution came at a critical stage during the initiative’s development.”
SPHERE has continued to amplify the project’s visibility through its newsletters and engagement with the Cancer Clinical Academic Group, where Professor Taylor serves as Deputy Director.
What began as a proposal for a new model of care has become a service with national reach, helping patients and clinicians across Australia make sense of complex genomic information and use it to guide cancer treatment.