A new "precision medicine" initiative will provide $3 million for a statewide project intended for compiling existing patient data, so that it can be used for drug therapies and to address specific needs of individuals for treatments. The announcement for the initiative was made by Gov. Jerry Brown and the University of California on Tuesday.

Three months ago President Obama also revealed in an announcement that a $215 million research investment would go for the fast growing segment. And now California has announced its Initiative for Advance Precision Medicine.

The investment from California is very vital for the state program, which will be hosted by UCSF. "We're doing kind of a pilot study within the state of California, to see how we can most efficiently and effectively pool lots of existing information and bring that data together to inform us", said Keith Yamamoto, vice chancellor of research at UCSF.

According to him, California has appeared to be the best place to go ahead with this experiment, given its size and demographics of the population, and abundance of talent there.

Precision medicine aims at collecting patient data from DNA sequencing, electronic health records, clinical trials, mobile technology, and environmental, social and behavioral studies. Precision medicine could provide a great help in bringing unprecedented improvements in patient therapies. Officials will process the massive amount of data that exists and agencies are collecting more data.

Scientists have already made use of precision medicine to understand why some cancer drugs are highly effective for certain patients, depending on their individual DNA or the genetic makeup in certain conditions. Scientists are now making efforts to determine why some people are at higher risk of high blood pressure or have a different response to drugs meant to reduce alcohol intake.

Five UC medical centers will initially implement the California initiative, but it will see quick expansion to include public and private research institutions all over the state.