{"573231":{"#nid":"573231","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Alumnus Leveraging Skills to Develop New Treatments","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Alumnus \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/matt.might.net\/\u0022\u003EMatt Might\u003C\/a\u003E is uniting the world of medicine and computer science in profound new ways as a strategist for President Barack Obama\u2019s Precision Medicine Initiative.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELaunched in January 2015, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/precision-medicine\u0022\u003EWhite House Precision Medicine Initiative\u003C\/a\u003E is combining advances in genomic medicine and computer science to match patients with unique treatments specific to their condition. As a strategist for the program, Might leverages his expertise in computer science to lay the scientific foundation for solving medical problems with a genetic basis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA three-time graduate of the School of Computer Science (B.S. 2001, M.S. 2005, Ph.D. 2007), Might is a respected computer scientist. He is an associate professor at the University of Utah with an active social media presence and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/matt.might.net\/articles\/\u0022\u003Epopular blog\u003C\/a\u003E, and he is also a visiting associate professor at the Harvard Medical School where he focuses on clinical precision medicine. He has published more than 50 scientific papers, appeared in media interviews, and presented almost 100 talks on topics such as cybersecurity, disease discovery, drug development, precision medicine, theoretical computer science, and static analysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMarried and the father of three children, Might\u2019s foray into the intersection of computer science and medicine began when his eldest child become the first person diagnosed with NGLY1 deficiency, a previously undiscovered genetic disorder.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe diagnosis was made possible through a groundbreaking research experiment using exome sequencing \u2013 a then-novel technique to reveal the \u201ccode\u201d in the human genome that creates proteins. Prior to the diagnosis, Might and his wife spent years bouncing from specialist to specialist in search of answers. His son was four years old when he was finally diagnosed in 2012. Since then, Might has been on a crusade to find a cure for his son, with early success bringing significant improvements to the quality of life for his son and a handful of other newly discovered patients.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Computer science is a fascinating scientific discipline in its own right, and it has now also become the enabling instrument of many other fields of study.\u0026nbsp; Medicine is just one example of a field that can be rapidly accelerated and re-thought in light of computation,\u201d said Might. \u201cI have no medical training, but the skills I learned in a computer science degree at Georgia Tech allowed me to cross disciplinary boundaries, to help my son and ultimately, I hope, to help many more.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Might family\u2019s odyssey was featured in \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2014\/07\/21\/one-of-a-kind-2\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe New Yorker\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E in 2014, which ultimately led to a meeting with President Obama and began Might\u2019s involvement with the White House\u2019s initiative. Since March 2016, Might has been involved in an official capacity, working in the Executive Office of the President at the White House half-time so he can stay committed to finding a cure for his son.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor additional information on NGLY1, go to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ngly1.org\/\u0022\u003ENGLY1.org\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Matt Might is combining computer science and medicine to help his son fight a rare disease."}],"uid":"32045","created_gmt":"2016-09-06 11:47:33","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:12","author":"Ben Snedeker","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-09-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-09-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}