October 28, 2015
Prince George, BC – Imagine if there was a significant increase in accurately diagnosing and treating disease for all British Columbians. The benefits of using genetic information to create a personalized approach to health care are vast.
Genome British Columbia (Genome BC) is taking its community engagement program, “Bringing Genomics Home” on the road to Prince George. Community members are welcome to join Drs. Jennifer Gardy, Nadine Caron and Brad Popovich for a lively and engaging presentation: Your DNA: a blueprint for better health. This discussion will explore the opportunities, applications and potential impacts of personalized medicine over the next five years.
Topics and speakers are:
Personalized Medicine: what’s the prescription for BC in the next 5 years?
Brad Popovich PhD, Genome BC
Better, Faster: How genomics is helping us diagnose and manage infectious disease
Jennifer Gardy PhD, Senior Scientist, BCCDC Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Services
Keeping the North part of Canada’s Healthcare DNA
Nadine Caron MD, Associate Professor, UBC NMP (Department of Surgery), Scientist, BCCA Genome Sciences Centre, and Co-Director, UBC Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health
“Genomics is going to transform healthcare over the next twenty years, particularly how we monitor and treat disease”, says Dr. Alan Winter, President and CEO of Genome BC. “This exciting area of medicine is still in early stages but we are delighted to be bringing these experts together in Prince George to share their significant insight and knowledge on the opportunity for genomics and personalized medicine.”
This free public talk begins at 6:00pm on Wednesday, October 28th at The Exploration Place, 333 Becott Place, Prince George. For more information and to register for this free event please visit: www.genomebc.ca/bghprincegeorge.
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Speaker Bios:
Dr. Brad Popovich, PhD
Dr. Popovich is the former Chief Scientific Officer for Genome BC. Brad has been a pioneer in the application of DNA technologies for the diagnosis and management of human diseases. He co-authored the first genetic privacy law in the US, was the prosecutions DNA expert in the OJ Simpson trial, and has been involved in a myriad of ancillary issues in the field of clinical molecular genetics. He is presently the Chairman of Microbiome Insights, and Genetic Information Management Systems, and a Director of the Centre for Drug Research and Development.
Dr. Jennifer Gardy, PhD
Dr. Gardy is both a scientist and a science communicator. An Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Gardy holds a Canada Research Chair in Public Health Genomics. Based at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, her lab uses DNA sequencing to understand how infectious diseases spread in populations. Dr. Gardy also works in science media as a regular host of CBC Television’s The Nature of Things, as well as appearances on other outlets.
Dr. Nadine Caron, MD
Since 2005, Dr. Nadine Caron has been working as a General and Endocrine Oncology Surgeon at University Hospital of Northern British Columbia. She is an Associate Professor in UBC’s Faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery and Northern Medical Program and a Scientist with the BC Cancer Agency Genome Sciences Centre. She serves on numerous committees including the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Regional Advisory Council for the Terry Fox Research Foundation and is the Co-Director of the UBC Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health.
