MORE Tritons in the White House
Dr . Connie Mariano , Revelle ’ 77 , is the first military woman to become the White House physician to the president , the first woman director of the White House Medical Unit , and the first Filipino- American in history to become a U . S . Navy rear admiral . “ I had to be strong but humble ,” she says . “ I had to become my father and my uncles while at the same time transcending my roots .”
After retiring from her post with President Clinton , Mariano founded the Center for Executive Medicine in Arizona and authored a memoir , The White House Doctor .
Photo courtesy White House Photo Office
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If Washington and Silicon Valley were in a race to make the best use of data , then D . C . was being lapped . This was hardly a result of the government ’ s lack of interest , but rather a shortfall of talent in the nation ’ s capital .
For years the best and brightest had chosen lucrative careers in California , forgoing public service to chase billionaire dreams and the stuff of technological lore . The Obama administration sought to change that dynamic by turning its attention to the tech sector in hopes of luring the most talented data scientists into public service by appealing to their sense of civic duty and offering access to what is perhaps the largest cache of data in the free world . Patil was a natural fit . It ’ s an honor of rare quality for the president to create a position with you specifically in mind , but the exaltation must be short-lived when Patil looks at the job ahead of him and sees a duty that ’ s as farreaching and large in scope as the human imagination .
First on the docket is the Precision Medicine Initiative , a program helmed by Patil that intends to revolutionize the way we treat illness by utilizing the flourishing business of human genome sequencing .
In Patil ’ s words : “ We ’ ve done all these incredible things to sequence the human genome and it ’ s becoming more affordable . [ We ’ re ] bringing that all together with your more generic health records … to unlock the next level of healthcare .”
If it sounds futuristic , it ’ s only because it is . Patil is working with the Office of Science and Technology Policy to combine genome sequencing and data analysis to transform how we treat individual sickness , a project that could very well carry medicine into a future we ’ d have a hard time recognizing .
As of right now , most diseases are treated in a catch-all fashion , meaning drugs and treatments are fundamentally similar in their design and application . If the Precision Medicine Initiative is successful in the way scientists think it could be , we might be looking at a future where every illness is handled in an incredibly more personalized manner that takes into account our individual genetics , environment and personal lifestyles to better focus and improve the quality of our care .
Elizabeth Phu , a 2000 graduate of the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies ( now Global Policy and Strategy ), is the current director for Oceania and East Asian security affairs for the National Security Council , located at the White House .
She cites UC San Diego ’ s “ incredibly complex position papers ” as key prep for her career writing briefs for the secretary of defense , the national security advisor and the president : “ Teamwork and the critical thinking — and fast writing — are exactly what have got me through every position in government since I graduated .”
The power of data may be apparent , and its applications nothing short of revolutionary , but the public is rarely sold on the benefits of a brighter future alone . And they shouldn ’ t be — especially when it comes to data . Because when you ’ re dealing with a commodity as valuable as information , the liabilities are just as profound .
First and foremost , Patil has to make sure that privacy and ethical concerns are being respected at every turn . The process has to be open and transparent , particularly in an environment where U . S . citizens are ever more concerned about the creeping limits of governmental surveillance , an issue that Patil says his team is keenly aware of .
“ When we ’ re thinking about the mission statement of [ our ] team ,” Patil says , “ one of the things that ’ s been really important is the word ‘ responsibility .’ And so , our mission is to responsibly release the power of data for all Americans .”
It ’ s this emphasis on responsibility that should make all the difference when it comes to utilizing data in a world rocked by National Security Agency snooping and the resulting scandals and privacy encroachments worldwide . Patil is confident that his team is up to the task , especially with regards to precision medicine , stressing that every decision made will be centered on respecting “ the patient , the provider , and the researcher .”
Once it is all achieved , however — once the security issues are dealt with , once the mountain of data is scaled and we can better see its myriad uses from the summit — it ’ s up to Patil and his team to imagine how that information could build us a better future .
And who would imagine , then , that the type of person who would lead us there is a skateboarding iconoclast outsider who had to scrape and claw his way into college , only to find his purpose therein ? Such a person may not be at all who we first envision , but given a second look , maybe that ’ s exactly who we should ’ ve been looking for all along .
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