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5th
Annual Internation Gene Forum 2004 - Genomics to Medicine
17-18
September , 2004
Tartu,
Estonia
Organiser:
Andres
Metspalu, University of Tartu, Estonia
Report
Summary
The
5th annual International Gene Forum 2004 subtitled as "Genomics
to Medicine" hosted by Estonian Genome Foundation was
held in Tartu, September 17-18, 2004. Held now for the fifth
year, the conference discussed the advances in biomedical
research enabled by genomics - a technological revolution
that might give rise to a paradigm shift and provide advances
in the field of medicine.
The
two-days high-level scientific conference incorporated a biobusiness
workshop, a commercial exhibition introducing the state-of-the-art
in the industry and promoting industry-academia cooperation,
and a poster session organized primarily for young researches
and students studying in the field. The 2-days scientific
conference program was focused on interdisciplinary areas
within genomics and genetics of complex diseases, genetic
epidemiology, pharmacogenomics and business, population genetics,
human genetics and bioethics.
Altogether,
350 scientists, students, physicians, health care officials
and business representatives, 58 of them representing the
other Baltic States, Scandinavia, Western and Southern Europe,
North America, Pakistan, Australia and Japan, participated
in the conference. The conference was mainly advertised using
the networks and mailing lists of ESF, ScanBalt and European
Federation of Biotechnology.
The
main sponsor of the conference was European Science Foundation.
The status of ESF as the main sponsor of Gene Forum 2004 was
acknowledged in all printed conference materials by using
ESF logo and ESF remit, at the conference website and on the
special banners of the major sponsors presented at the conference
hall. The list of other sponsors includes Estonian Biocentre,
Centre of Excellence for Gene and Environmental Technologies
of Tartu University, Enterprise Estonia, Tartu City Government,
KPMG Estonia and British Council.
Scientific content of and
discussion at the event
Altogether,
21 outstanding scientists and experts in the field of genetics,
genomics and biotechnology from abroad, attended the recent
conference in Tartu as the speakers. In addition to them,
4 local speakers representing the University of Tartu presented
in the conference main programme.
The
conference was opened by the Minister of Education and Research
of Estonia, Prof. Toivo Maimets, who noted that a distinguished
list of speakers has become a clear trademark of this event.
The minister expressed his hope that the audience comprises
scientists and researchers able to participate in unravelling
the secrets of the human genome and come up with novel methods
of fighting diseases. Prof. Maimets noted also that one of
the missions of this conference is to facilitate the communication
of top science to the society and serve as a tool for lifelong
learning.
The
speakers of the main programme included among the others Prof.
Lyle Palmer (Western Australian Institute for Medical Research),
Dr. Kathleen Merikangas (National Institute of Mental Health),
Prof. Martin Godbout (President and CEO of Genome Canada),
Prof. Panagiotis Deloukas (The Sanger Institute, UK), Prof.
Gilles Thomas (CEPH), Prof. David Goldstein (University College
of London), Prof. Sinuhe Hahn (University of Basel), Prof.
Jaume Bertranpetit (Barcelona), Prof. Peter D. Pare (University
of British Columbia, Vancouver), Prof. Jacques Beckmann (University
of Lausanne), Prof. Edward Holmes (University of California,
San Diego), Prof. Qasim Mehdi (Pakistan) and Prof. Nikolas
Rose (London School of Economics and Political Science).
The
main programme of the 2-days conference was composed of 8
sessions and 20 lectures (each of 40 minutes). The session
chairs moderated the questions and answers section, which
was followed after each presentation. In the opening session,
Prof. Lyle J. Palmer, Director of Busselton Population Medical
Research Foundation Laboratory of Western Australia, emphasized
the importance of population-based genetics research. According
to Prof. Palmer, only countries with total population data
and family record linkage, so that all those with and without
disease can be studied in an unbiased way throughout the whole
life span, have the highest chances of success in applying
genomic knowledge and tools in clinical and public health
settings. Such linkages and resources already exist in Western
Australia, where both public and private efforts have resulted
in a fruitful cooperation allowing to monitor population for
all major diseases/conditions, their risk and protective factors,
and the use and role of health services studied. In addition
to new scientific and public health resources the project
offers an opportunity to educate people about the genetics
and diseases.
Associate
Director of Epidemiology of National Institute of Mental Health
(NIMH), Dr. Kathleen R. Merikangas focused in her presentation
on describing the genetic epidemiological approaches to complex
disorders. Dr. Merikangas sees public dissemination of knowledge
regarding risk estimation and changing of lifestyle as important
as discovering disease related genes. For example, people
tend to continue smoking or drinking while being aware of
the fact that they are susceptible to specific condition,
where smoking or drinking contributes to the development of
the disease. Dr. Merikangas suggested that we should prioritise
our research and not spend enormous resources on genetics
of smoking. Instead of that, we should focus on breast cancer,
type I diabetes, sclerosis multiplex and autism, because genetic
research has the highest chance in unravelling the causes
of these diseases. This presentation was followed by numerous
questions from the audience. According to the feedback from
the conference participants, Dr. Merikangas was among the
"top three" speakers, whose presentations were most
valued within the framework of the conference programme.
A
separate conference session was focused on exploring the different
models of the organization of high-tech research and the ways
of commercialization of that research. Prof. Martin Godbout,
President and CEO of Genome Canada gave an overview how Canadian
government has provided resources for developing research
and cooperation in the field of biotechnology. Dr. Hannu Hanhijärvi,
Director of SITRA Life Sciences, presented the Finnish model
of providing seed and early stage financing for biotech in
Finland. Mr. Raul Malmstein, Development Advisor to the Government
of Estonia described the Estonian vision of developing a knowledge-based
economy. Mr. Malmstein stressed the importance of balancing
interests of different parties and creating trust between
universities, companies and research institutes. On the other
hand Mr. Malmstein considered the competition between institutions
as well as individual researchers as the main motivator of
growth and development. The Estonian Government is working
on a state venture capital fund that should bridge the financing
cap in the seed and early stages and attract more aggressive
capital to Estonian financial market.
Several
speakers discussed the problems and opportunities arising
from the HapMap. Prof. Maido Remm, Head of the department
of Bioinformatics at the University of Tartu, presented an
overview of marker associations in human genome, which should
reduce significantly the cost of studies in near future.
The
conference main programme included also presentations on genetics
of specific diseases, among them the genetics of type 2 diabetes,
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, psoriasis,
anxiety and inflammatory bowel disease was discussed in detail
at the meeting.
The
last speaker of the conference, Prof. Nikolas Rose from London
School of Economics and Political Science, explored the potential
social consequences of the increasing ability of genetic testing
to identify susceptibilities to disease prior to the appearance
of symptoms. Prof. Rose argued that this will create an "emergent
form of life" - that is to say, a form of life where
in first, the distinctions between cure, treatment, prevention
and enhancement can no longer be sustained, and secondly,
in which the remit of clinical medicine is further extended
beyond the cure of diseases to the management of risk. And
finally, in this "emergent form of life", individuals,
families and collectivities reshape their identities, in whole
or in part, in the light of beliefs about their genetic predispositions
and susceptibilities. The intriguing presentation of Prof.
Rose was followed by a longer exchange of views between the
speaker and the audience.
In
addition to the two-days main programme, a half-day parallel
session was organized on September 17th in cooperation with
Connect Estonia, focused on biotech business development,
team building and networking issues. The workshop was mainly
targeted to the managers and employees of biotech companies,
but also to researchers, students and technology transfer
specialists. The workshop contained short lectures and a lot
of Q&A and discussion around the key issue for startup
companies: how to identify business opportunities and achieve
sales in the life sciences markets. Based on the feedback
received from the participants, this short seminar turned
out to a fruitful discussion and exchange of views, among
other topics, the perspectives and critical aspects of the
development of the Estonian biotechnology sector were discussed.
These discussions were led by the top experts from United
Kingdom (Dr. David Bailey and Dr. Geeta Gupta), Sweden (Dr.
Lena Lebel and Dr. Thomas Österberg) and Denmark (Dr.
Morten Winther).
About
10 companies from Estonia and other European countries presented
their products in the exhibition hall during the 2-days conference.
In the same hall, a separate poster session was organized
targeted primarily to young researches and students studying
in the field.
Assessment of the results and impact
of the event on the future direction of the field
The 5th International Gene Forum 2004 brought together the
top scientists of the field of epidemiology, genetics, genomics
and biotechnology to discuss how genomics changes medicine.
Conclusively, the speakers of the conference assured that
genomics will gradually become part of the everyday medicine.
In the near future genomics has more and more profound impact
both in therapeutic medicine and healthcare planning.
One of the main goals of this was to support the participation
and training of early stage researches. The conference programme
was also composed bearing in mind the necessary training aspects.
Thanks to the sponsors and supporting organizations 130 young
scientists and nearly 100 physicians and researchers were
able to attend the conference for a modest participation fee
applied for academia and medical institutions. In addition
to that, 80 graduate students studying in the field of genomics
had a possibility to attend the conference free of charge.
The
conference served as a meeting place for scientists and researches
involved in research on different aspects of genetics. It
also served as a meeting place for industry and academia representatives
and practitioners in the field (physicians, healthcare officials
etc) with the aim of fostering the relationship between these
players and contributing to the application of the most recent
research results in the practice. And finally, this high-level
scientific conference offered up-to-date training by leading
scientists and experts to early stage researches and students
studying in the field.
After
five years long tradition of organizing Gene Forum conferences,
it can be said that this conference has become the major event
in the field of genomics in the whole Baltic region. Hence,
we hope that this meeting provides an excellent opportunity
to promote the collaboration between the researchers, contributing
to the improvement of the state of the art in Europe. We also
believe that personal contacts and face-to face meetings are
very important in the world of science, as they help to create
a solid foundation for lauching a successful cooperation both
in EU Research Area and in terms of other international projects.
On this reason, the series of Gene Forum conferences in Tartu
will be continued.
Final programme for the meeting
Thursday 16 September
Arrival and accommodation of participants.
Friday
17 September
9.00-9.30
Registration at the Vanemuine Conference Hall
9.30
- 9.40 OPENING OF THE FORUM
Prof. Toivo Maimets, Minister of Education and
Research, Estonia
9.40
- 11.10 OPENING SESSION
Prof.
Lyle L. Palmer, Foundation Chair in Genetic Epidemiology;
Western Australian Institute for Medical Research; University
of Western Australia, Australia
"New horizons: Population-based humane genome epidemiology
in Western Australia"
Dr.
Kathleen R. Merikangas, Developmental Genetic Epidemiology
Section, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Associate Director
of Epidemiology, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH),
USA
"Genetic Epidemiologic Approaches to Complex Disorders"
11.10-11.30
Coffee/tea break
11.30-13.10 SESSION I
Prof.
Martin Godbout, President and CEO, Genome Canada,
Canada
"Genomics: from Research to Commercialization"
Dr.
Hannu Hanhijärvi, Director, SITRA Life Sciences,
Finland
"SITRA's role as a source for venture capital for early
stage biotech business with special reference to genomics
companies"
Prof.
Maido Remm, Head of Department of Bioinformatics,
University of Tartu
"Selection of tagSNPs - how to represent the entire genome?"
13.10-14.15 Lunch
14.15-16.00 SESSION II
Dr.
Cecilia Lindgren, Department of Biosciences at Novum
Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden
"Mapping genes for asthma and psoriasis"
Prof.
Panagiotis Deloukas, Human Genetics Senior Investigator,
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, United Kingdom
"Human Sequence Variation & Disease - The HapMap
Project"
Prof.
Eero Vasar, Head of the Department of Physiology,
University of Tartu, Estonia
"Neurogenetical mechanisms of anxiety disorders"
16.00-16.20
Coffee/tea break
16.20-17.30
SESSION III
Prof.
Gilles Thomas, Fondation Jean Dausset /CEPH, Paris,
France
"Population genetics of CARD15, a susceptibility gene
to a frequent inflammatory bowel disease"
Prof.
Pärt Peterson, Institute of General and Molecular
Pathology, University of Tartu
"Autoimmune regulator (AIRE) gene: a guardian of immune
tolerance"
20.00
Buffet Dinner
Saturday 18 September
9.30-11.25
SESSION IV
Prof.
David Goldstein, University College of London, United
Kingdom
"Haplotype mapping of variable drug response"
Prof.
Sinuhe Hahn, Laboratory of Prenatal Medicine, University
Womens' Hospital, University of Basel, Switzerland
"Circulating cell free nucleic acids: new clinical applications"
Prof.
Mark McCarthy, Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology
and Metabolism (OCDEM), Churchill Hospital, United Kingdom
"Identifying and characterizing variants underlying susceptibility
to
type 2 diabetes"
11.25-
11.45 Coffee/tea break
11.45-13.30 SESSION V
Prof.
Jaume Bertranpetit, University of Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona,
Spain
"Is there a single haplotype map of human genome: the
population stratification of linkage disequilibrium"
Prof.
Peter Pare, University of British Columbia, James
Hogg iCAPTURE Center for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research,
Vancouver, Canada
"A strategy for finding novel therapeutic targets in
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease"
Raul
Malmstein, The State Chancellery, Research and Development
Advisor, Estonia
"State and knowledge-based society: challenges and solutions"
13.30-14.45
Lunch
14.45-16.05
SESSION VI
Prof.
Jacques Beckmann, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
"From medical genetics to genetic medicine"
Prof.
Edward Holmes, Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences,
University of California, San Diego, USA
"Nonsense Mutations: A Short Cut to Identification of
New Drug Targets"
16.05-16.20
Coffee/tea break
16.20-17.40
SESSION VII
Prof.
Qasim Mehdi, Director General, Biomedica l& Genetic
Engineering Laboratories, Pakistan
"Genetics of world populations and the effect of consanguineous
marriages on inherited diseases"
Prof. Nicolas Rose, Head of the Department of
Sociology and Director of the BIOS Centre for the Study of
Bioscience, Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Society at the
London School of Economics and Political Science, UK.
"Genomic Susceptibility as an Emergent Form of Life:
genetic testing, identity and the remit of medicine"
17.40-17.50
Close of the Conference
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