Marking 12 years of advancing precision medicine and genomics in Qatar, the Mena region, and beyond, Sidra Medicine, a member of Qatar Foundation, is set to host the Precision Medicine and the Future of Genomics (PMFG) Summit 2026, to be held from December 7-9 at the Qatar National Convention Centre.
Prof Khalid Fakhro, chief research officer at Sidra Medicine and executive chair of PMFG Summit 2026, said: “Since hosting the first major precision medicine symposium in the Middle East in 2014, Sidra Medicine has continued to lead regional and global dialogue on personalised healthcare. Since then, PMFG has evolved alongside the remarkable progress Sidra Medicine has made in precision medicine and genomics. We are now at a pivotal stage where advances in genomics, artificial intelligence and data science are creating new opportunities to transform how we predict, diagnose and treat disease.”
This year's edition will focus on four scientific pillars: Building Globally Representative, Population-Scale Genomic Infrastructure; AI-Driven Discovery and the Regulatory Ecosystems to Govern It; Rare, Metabolic, and Mendelian Disease Genomics in High-Consanguinity Populations; and Translating Genomic Discovery into Deployed, Equitable Care.
Dr Ammira Akil, principal investigator and director of Metabolic and Mendelian Translational Programme at Sidra Medicine and managing chair of PMFG Summit 2026, said: “For decades, most genetic research has focused on a small part of the world's population. This year’s PMFG Summit is bringing together the scientists that are changing that landscape. We will have esteemed researchers who have built or are building genetic maps that finally include African, Chinese and Vietnamese ancestry. We will also feature experts launching national genome projects across the Global South in places like Pakistan, Egypt, Peru and Ghana, and here in Qatar, including updates about newborn screening programmes in populations where genetic conditions are more common. The core focus of the summit will be to address the most important question of all: will this reach every patient who needs it, no matter where they live?”
Artificial intelligence is a major thread running through this year's programme, from generative AI systems designing entirely new drug candidates and quantum computing accelerating genomic analysis, to deep learning models predicting disease risk across entire national populations, to international collaborations training AI across borders without moving underlying patient data. The summit will also confront the challenges and questions about how regulators, health systems and society itself can govern AI-driven medicine responsibly as it moves faster than the frameworks built to oversee it.
This year's programme features live debates, including a session on whether the traditional "blockbuster" drug model can survive in an age of personalised medicine and a closing debate on whether population genomics will truly reach the patients who need it most. The programme also includes specialised workshops, scientific poster presentations, and dedicated networking opportunities designed to encourage knowledge exchange and foster collaborations across research, clinical practice, and technology.
