Mayo Clinic in Rochester is holding a conference today through Wednesday on the burgeoning field of individualized medicine.
"Individualizing Medicine 2013: From Promise to Practice"focuses on "how to translate the promise of genomic medicine to your practice," according to Mayo.
Sessions are on such topics as "Genetic Counselors in a Genome World" and "Application of Genomic Information and the Role of Current and Future Technological and Therapeutic Development."
The opening keynote speaker today will be Dr. Eric Green, director of the National Institute of Genomic Health Research, Bethesda, Md. Co-hosts for the conference will be Dr. Richard Besser, chief health and medical editor for ABC News and former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control, and Ceci Connolly, managing director of the Health Research Institute.
Individualized medicine is a growing field of patient care based on the increasing knowledge of the human genome, mapped just a decade ago.
ADVERTISEMENT
Attending the conference are physicians, researchers, genetic counselors, nurse practitioners, bioethicists and others.Sessions will focus on integratinggenomics and pharmacogenomics to individualize patient care.
The conference will also discuss how to disseminate genomic information to patients, and how to determine if a patient would benefit from genome sequencing.
Mayo's Center for Individualized Medicine seeks todiscover and integrate the latest in genomic, molecular and clinical sciences into personalized care for patients. Ithas programs in biomarker discovery, pharmacogenomics, epigenomics and the human microbiome.
Last year,Mayo Clinic announced a new individualized medicine consulting clinic for patients with serious medical conditions who have not found answers through conventional testing.
Whole-genome sequencing will be used as a standard part of care by a team of 20 genomics-trained physicians. Genetic counselors will guide patients through the process.
