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Organisers
Olli Kallioniemi, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki, Finland
Anu Jalanko, Head of Public Health Genomics
Unit, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland
Aarno Palotie, Head of Medical
Sequencing, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK
Introduction
The past decade has been a remarkable era for human genetics and genomics. After the
completion of the Human Genomic Project, tremendous efforts have been invested to dissect the
new information provided by human genome with a common and ultimate goal of better
understanding disease and physiology mechanisms in order to benefit human health. For
example, the International HapMap Project aiming at determining and cataloguing common
patterns of DNA sequence variation in the human genome with data freely available to the
scientific communities; the ENCODE Project- Encyclopaedia of DNA Elements with the aim
towards a comprehensive establishment of the functional elements of the human genome; and the
more recently initiated 1000 genome project which aims at establishing a deep catalog of human
genetic variation through sequencing the genomes of a larger number of population.
Openly accessible datasets, the new model of extensive collaboration across boundaries, advances of high-throughput technology and recognition of the importance of genome research on human health followed by sustainable investments have transformed the prospects for identification of genetic variation behind common diseases. Hundreds of disease susceptible genes or loci have been identified in the past years and the number of genes identified will continue to grow as genotyping technologies with higher capacities are being developed and more omics data being produced and made available. It is agreed that the modern genomics approach has contributed to better understanding of disease pathogenic mechanisms. However, the challenges to translate the knowledge into clinical efficacy remain.
In this symposium, there is a high profile scientific programme gathering the world leading scientists to present the most advanced development in the disease genetics and genomics areas including translational efforts towards clinical implementation. This symposium will also serve a special function to honour Leena Peltonen-Palotie, Academician of Science, Professor at Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute for her tremendous scientific contribution to modern disease genetics and being one of the major driving forces behind key European and global genomics efforts, such as pan-European biobanking infrastructure-BBMRI, Public Population Project in Genomics-P3G, HUGO, HapMap project, 1000 genome project. As a visionary leader and pioneer in the field, Professor Leena Peltonen-Palotie’s premature death on March 11, 2010 was truly a great loss to the science communities.
The programme will consist of an opening ceremony, four scientific sessions and an open-door session targeting the general public in Finland. The President of Finland Dr. Tarja Halonen will give the opening words. The open-door session at the end of Day 1 programme will be presented by a number of Prof Peltonen-Palotie’s former graduate students who have since developed excellent scientific careers in the field of disease genomics. In total the event will convene about 20 speakers who represent recent advances in the disease genomics areas.
Venue
The symposium will be held in the Marina Congress Center, Helsinki, Finland. The venue is
conveniently located in the Helsinki city center facing the Baltic Sea.It can be easily reached by
public transportation from the Helsinki-Vantaa airport (45 mins by bus and tram; 30 mins by taxi).
Allan Bradley, Professor, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Nadia Rosenthal, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Monterotondo, Italy (TBC)
Nelson Freimer, Professor, Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA
Mark Daly, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, USA
David Altshuler, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, USA
Mark McCarthy, Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM)
Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK
Leif Groop, University of Lund, Sweden
Kai Simons, Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany
Carl-Henrik Heldin, Uppsala University, Sweden (TBC)
Kari Alitalo, University of Helsinki, Finland
Edison Liu, Genome Institute of Singapore, Singapore (TBC)
Mike Stratton, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Richard Durbin, Deputy Director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Gert-Jan van Ommen, University of Leiden, Netherlands (TBC)
Kari Stefansson, deCODE Genetics, Reykjavik, Iceland
Cornelia van Duijn, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands (TBC)
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
08:30—09:45 Registration and coffee
10:00—11:10 Opening ceremony
Chair: Olli Kallioniemi, Director, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM)
Opening words by President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen (TBC)
Rector, Professor Thomas Wilhelmsson, University of Helsinki (TBC)
Director General, Professor Pekka Puska, National Institute for Health and Welfare (TBC)
President of the Academy of Finland Markku Mattila (TBC)
Chief Executive, Professor Marja Makarow, European Science Foundation (ESF) (TBC)
Eric Lander, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (by video)
Fotis Kafatos, Imperial College London, United Kingdom (TBC)
11:10—12:30 Session I - Model organisms and special populations in disease genomics
Allan Bradley, Professor, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Nadia Rosenthal, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Monterotondo, Italy (TBC)
Nelson Freimer, Professor, Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA
12.30—13.30 Buffet Lunch
13:30—17:10 Session II - Uncovering the genetic variation in metabolic traits
Mark Daly, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, USA
David Altshuler, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, USA
Mark McCarthy, Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM)
Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK
Leif Groop, University of Lund, Sweden
Kai Simons, Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany
18:00—20:00 Session III – Dissemination of scientific achievements to the community:
Pathways from genetic research to public health (Presentations for general
public; preliminarily in Finnish)
Anu Wartiovaara (TBC)
Elina Ikonen (TBC)
Iiris Hovatta (TBC)
20:00 —00:00 Dinner in Old Student House – Vanha Ylioppilastalo (address:
Mannerheimintie 3, FI-00100 Helsinki)
Thursday, 19 May 2011
09:00—10:00 Registration and coffee
10:00—12:40 Session IV - Cancer Genomics
Carl-Henrik Heldin, Uppsala University, Sweden (TBC)
Kari Alitalo, University of Helsinki, Finland
Edison Liu, Genome Institute of Singapore, Singapore (TBC)
Mike Stratton, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
12:40—14:00 Buffet Lunch
14.00—17:20 Session V- New Opportunities for Genetic Epidemiology
Richard Durbin, Deputy Director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Gert-Jan van Ommen, University of Leiden, Netherlands (TBC)
Kari Stefansson, deCODE Genetics, Reykjavik, Iceland
Cornelia van Duijn, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands (TBC)
