Sidra Medicine has announced that it is all set to host the fifth edition of its flagship ‘Precision Medicine and Functional Genomics 2020’ (PMFG 2020). The symposium will be held online from December 5-7, providing resourceful ‘remote learning’ opportunities on account of the current pandemic restrictions, according to a press statement.
Attendees to PMFG 2020 will receive 14.25 hours credits for learning as approved by the Qatar Council of Healthcare Practitioners. The conference is being billed as one of the major scientific symposiums from the Middle East, dedicated to covering topics relevant to the current pandemic as well as the importance of precision medicine, the statement notes.
Registered attendees will be able to access various sessions - from live and on-demand programming – and hear from notable local and international speakers. PMFG 2020 will dedicate a special session on Covid-19, which sheds light on the testing and treatment strategies that are now in place, including examples of recent methods developed and enhanced in Qatar.
“Precision Medicine is a key focus area for our conference programme and indeed, for Qatar. Sidra Medicine has been working closely with our local partners to build capacity in this area in recent years, and considering growing global interest in making precision medicine a reality for patients, we are excited to share early success stories. PMFG 2020 will provide an engaging platform for speakers to present best practices, discuss case studies and explore future opportunities. It will also be a forum to present innovations using precision technologies, in tackling a variety of ongoing health challenges such as diabetes, cancer and Covid-19,” said Dr Khalid Fakhro, chief research officer, Sidra Medicine.
PMFG 2020 will feature global and local thought leaders, including Prof Sir Mark Caulfield - chief scientist, Genomics England, UK, who will talk about the ‘100,000 Genomes Project’ and health transformation. Other notable speakers include Prof Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, professor of Medicine and Microbiology, The Icahn School of Medicine, US, discussing the development of Covid-19 vaccines; Dr Stephen Hunger, chief, Division of Paediatric Oncology, and director, Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, US, discussing implementing new precision medicine and immunotherapy strategies in paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
In addition, Dr Alan Shuldiner, vice-president, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc, New York, US, will discuss ‘The Regeneron Genetics Center at 1 million exomes: What have we learned’; in addition to Dr Virginia Pascual, Ronay Menschel Professor of Paediatrics, director, Drukier Institute for Children’s Health, Weill Cornell Medicine - New York, US, talking about ‘A Personalised Approach to Understand Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Heterogeneity’.
To register, preview the full agenda and see the speakers’ list, one has to visit https://www.sidra.org/pmfg.

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