In an exclusive interview with Dr. Ida Sim, Professor of Medicine and Computational Precision Health at UCSF and UC Berkeley, and Co-Director of the UCSF–UC Berkeley Joint Program in Computational Precision Health, shared her refreshing perspective on how biomedical discovery can better translate into real-world healthcare. As precision medicine evolves beyond the lab, Dr. Ida Sim reminds us what truly matters: bringing discovery to the patient’s bedside. Her insights reveal how we can design healthcare solutions that treat people, not diseases — uniting behavior, biology, and technology for more meaningful outcomes.
From Diseases to People
“You can’t treat a disease — you have to treat the person.”
With 60% of Americans living with one or more chronic conditions, Dr. Sim believes the biggest opportunity in healthcare lies in shifting from disease-based to person-centered solutions. She points out that while many innovations optimize for a single disease, patients live with several — and their needs evolve over time. The future, she says, belongs to technologies that understand the whole person and adapt to the changing constellation of their health challenges.
Making Innovation Work in Real Clinics
For Dr. Sim, brilliant ideas only matter if they fit the workflow. Too often, technologies are developed without understanding how clinicians actually deliver care — or how many apps patients already juggle.
“If a doctor has to leave their main system or a patient has to use six apps, it’s not going to work,” she says. True progress will come from integrated solutions that flow naturally into daily practice and make life easier for both clinicians and patients.
The Next Frontier: Behaviour Meets Biology
While molecular breakthroughs have transformed medicine, Dr. Sim believes the next big leap will connect behavioural health, biology, and data. “Our habits — sleep, stress, diet, activity — shape how our biology responds,” she explains. “Understanding those connections will redefine precision health.”
Behavioural health, she suggests, may be the “blockbuster therapy of the 21st century.”
Rethinking Big Data and Genomics
Large-scale genomic efforts hold promise, but Dr. Sim encourages asking bigger, more connected questions: “How do combinations of diseases evolve together? How can we intervene earlier?”
She envisions population genomics that not only uncovers molecular mechanisms but also guides practical, preventive care — blending insights from beneath the skin with those above the skin.