CHOP Genomics Expert to Speak at Inaugural Precision Health Conference

A world leader in pediatric genomics from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) will address a major conference in precision medicine this month, as research and business experts exchange state-of-the-art progress in applying DNA discovery technology to advancing human health.

Hakon Hakonarson, MD, PhD, director of CHOP’s Center for Applied Genomics, will address the inaugural 2016 Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) Precision Health Meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz. Speaking at a Sept. 22 session on population-based approaches to precision medicine, Hakonarson will describe “Genomics-driven biomarker discovery and utilization: The precision medicine experience from CHOP.”

Precision medicine aims to revolutionize health by leveraging genomics advances and large-scale data management and analysis to accelerate biomedical discoveries. The aim is to customize treatment to a patient’s unique DNA profile. In the wake of President Obama’s 2015 launch of the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI), the National Institutes of Health is supporting the PMI Cohort Program to gather DNA and health data from a million or more Americans.

CHOP has been strongly committed to precision medicine, through its Center for Applied Genomics and the hospital’s premier programs in pediatric health. One reflection of CHOP’s involvement was the participation of CHOP leaders and patient families, highlighting advances in pediatric cancer treatment, at recent White House PMI events.

The Center for Applied Genomics, founded at CHOP by Hakonarson in 2006, is one of the world’s largest programs dedicated to pediatric genomics. It has identified genetic causes in dozens of pediatric conditions, with the aim of translating these findings into targeted, highly specific treatments.

Hakonarson’s presentation will follow a presentation by Teri Monolio, MD, PhD, the director of Genomic Medicine at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health. To see the full conference agenda, visit http://www.agbt.org/meetings/precision-health-meeting

Topics to be covered at the 2016 Precision Health Meeting include prenatal testing, clinical implementation, rare genetic diseases, cancer genomics and industry perspectives. The speakers include experts from Harvard Medical School, Baylor College of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, the University of Oxford, Regeneron Genetics Center and DNA Nexus, among others.