Way back in 1994, Jim Jensen went to his doctor to try a new drug called Imitrex to treat his migraine headaches.

Within minutes, he knew something was wrong.

“They asked me how it was going, and I said, ‘I have pain between my shoulder blades, maybe you should check my heart,’” Jensen recalled recently.

Doctors did, then raced him into surgery to treat two blood clots causing a heart attack. The aftermath left Jensen with an implanted pacemaker but also lingering questions: Why had he reacted to the medication the way he did? And could it happen with other drugs?

Nearly 30 years later, as part of an innovative research project and medical treatment initiative at UCHealth, Jensen finally had an answer: His medicines don’t always play nicely with his genes.

“I have five different chr

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