Translational Research Symposium Speaker Spotlight: Professor Kathryn North, 31 July

Monash University's 3rd annual Translational Research Symposium is being hosted by its three metropolitan clinical schools on 31 July 2017. The symposium will host a diverse group of medical researchers presenting their work into translational research.

The Keynote speaker for the event is Professor Kathryn North AM, Director of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Director of the Victorian Clinical Genetics Service and the David Danks Professor of Child Health Research at the University of Melbourne.

Prof North's presentation will be "Genomics and the Brave New World of Personalised Medicine: A Global and Local Perspective".

Genomics is already having a huge impact on our ability to diagnose and understand a range of disorders, and to target therapies to the individual. However, effective integration of this “disruptive technology” into everyday clinical practice will require a “whole-of-system” approach that builds on existing expertise. In Australia, we also need to overcome the “state/federal divide” in the funding of genetic testing to develop a cohesive national approach that is cost effective and provides equitable access.

The Australian Genomics Health Alliance (AGHA) is an NHMRC-funded national collaborative network committed to implementing genomic medicine within Australia and providing evidence to inform policy and practice. AGHA comprises over 50 partner organisations including the diagnostic pathology and clinical genetics services of all Australian States and Territories, along with the major research and academic institutions and peak professional bodies. By approaching clinical genomics at a national rather than state-based level, we increase our critical mass and offer a single point of contact for government and for national and international consortia.

Our approach – starting with the patient and developing a system that is focussed on improving patient care and outcomes – provides us with a unique opportunity to lead internationally in the integration of genomics into healthcare.

AGHA is also a leading member of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH), an organisation of over 470 of the world’s leading biomedical research institutions, healthcare providers, information technology and life science companies, funders of research, and disease and patient advocacy organizations. The Global Alliance aims to accelerate the world-wide effort to responsibly aggregate, analyse and share large amounts of genomic and clinical information to advance the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment for cancer, inherited diseases, infectious diseases, and drug responses.

We look forward to welcoming Professor North for the Symposium!

More information:
Translational Research Symposium

• Date: Monday 31 July, 2017
• Time: 8:30 for 9:00am start - 7:00pm close
• RSVP here

Find out more about the symposium and our speaker program.

If you are a graduate student or early career researcher, you may be interested in the Young Investigator poster competition. See here for more details and to RSVP.