23andMe Launches New Personalized Healthcare Initiative with Amy Sturm

23andMe occupies its own place in the world of genomics. Known for its vision to democratize human genomic information, the company has always gone big and bold, and sometimes controversial. Today we don’t hear much controversy—is that because their approach has won out? In any case, they have certainly achieved a scale that surpasses any other genetic testing company.

It is this scale which has attracted Amy Sturm, a return champion here on the program, who formerly ran the genomic counseling and screening program at Geisinger Health Systems to join the team at 23andMe as their Director of Population Health Genomics. This is a new position created for Amy and is part of a new initiative the company has begun to connect the dots for customers with the genomic health data they receive in their 23andMe reports.

Amy says that the final “code” in translating genomics has not quite been broken.

“We want people to access, and understand—which I think we’ve accomplished those two— but then also benefit from the human genome. We’re working on the mantra, 'no dead ends.' We’re developing the clinical connection for individuals to take that report and keep themselves healthy, keep their children healthy, and utilize the insights. Honestly, it’s still one size fits all out there. So that’s the big picture vision, and doing that not necessarily in siloed genetics clinics, but integrating it directly into primary care.”

That last part is where it gets interesting. The company is investing in infrastructure—they bought a company, Lemonaid Health, in 2021— to be able to give clinical follow-up directly to their customers. Today, Amy lays out this ambitious new direction for the company and shares her thoughts on an industry in flux.