Baker Institute conference to weigh medical advances in light of human genome project

BY FRANZ BROTZEN
Rice News staff

It’s been 10 years since the first draft of the human genome sequence was completed. A Dec. 6 discussion at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy will look at the growing field of personalized genomic medicine that has emerged since that achievement.

Titled “Personalized Genomic Medicine: Genetics in Health Care,” the conference will begin at 8:15 a.m. in Baker Hall’s Doré Commons. Breakfast will be served at 7:45 a.m.

Affordable gene mapping — and, in the near future, affordable whole-genome sequencing — is available for individuals who want to determine their genetic risks. The resulting information has the potential to help physicians diagnose and treat diseases. For this event, a panel consisting of a scientist, a clinical investigator and a policy expert will review the success of the Human Genome Project and examine the future of personalized medicine, the policy challenges and the economic costs.

The panelists will include Eric Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute; Gail Javitt, counsel at Sidley Austin LLP; and Razelle Kurzrock, professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The session will be moderated by John Mendelsohn, president of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Hosted by the Baker Institute Science and Technology Policy Program and MD Anderson Cancer Center, this is the third event in the ”Medicine, Research and Society” series.

Co-sponsors include Rice University’s Institute for Biosciences and Bioengineering and the Baker Institute Health Policy Forum.

Rice faculty, staff and students who want to attend must RSVP by e-mail (bipprsvp@rice.edu), by fax (713-348-5993) or on the Web at http://bakerinstitute.org/events/personalized-genomic-medicine-genetics-in-health-care.