Governor Jim Doyle announced the launch of the Wisconsin Genomics Initiative Friday.

It’s a collaboration among the Medical College of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, UW-Milwaukee and the Marshfield Clinic.

The plan’s ultimate goal is better health care for patients worldwide.

"By capitalizing on the unique strengths of each institution, we have a rare opportunity to meet an important scientific and public health need that would otherwise not be met, and which cannot be accomplished anywhere but here in Wisconsin," Gov. Doyle said.

The director of the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation says no other state could accomplish the kind of advancements in personalized medicine these four Wisconsin institutions can without spending hundreds of millions of dollars.

Governor Doyle thanked Melvin Laird, a Marshfield native, former Republican Congressman and former Secretary of Defense, for laying the groundwork for this new initiative over the years. Laird in turn thanked everyone who encouraged him during his lifetime to be passionate about the medical field.

Any discoveries researchers make during this project should have a positive impact on the state’s economy, with new jobs new businesses or grants. Perhaps more importantly, advances at these institutions could mean lower health care costs for patients in Wisconsin, across the country and around the world.

"We're doing work that is really going to revolutionize medicine,” said Dr. Humberto Vidaillet, the director of the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation.

"Improved genetic research holds the promise to allow physicians to better predict diseases and manage chronic conditions keeping more people out of our hospitals and clinics, avoiding surgeries and other expensive treatments,” Gov. Doyle said.

The Wisconsin Genomics Initiative is going to be rolled out in two phases, the first of which will last about two years.

After announcing the research collaboration, Governor Doyle optimistically said he looks forward to reporting back to the state then, with news that they have cured all the world’s illnesses.

Phase one of the initiative will focus on predicting susceptibility to diseases and response to treatments using the Marshfield Clinic’s Personalized Medicine Research Project.