Webinar 1

In the first of the three-part webinar series Dr. Aarno Palotie of the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), the University of Helsinki, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard will share the emerging vision of preemptive health care enabled by genomics, expanding on the value of PRS and PGx in disease risk stratification and medication management, with examples from his group’s work.

Dr. Aarno Palotie,
Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM)
Biography ›

Prof. Aarno Palotie, MD, PhD, focuses on improving the understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying common diseases by leveraging the data from the unique Finnish population. His research interest also encompasses understanding genetics of neurological, neurodevelopmental, and neuropsychiatric traits. He has been engaged with many key initiatives such as Finngen study and UK10K project, with the vision to construct a large genome data resource that facilitates the development of strong genome medicine programs.

Also, Dr. Andres Metspalu of the Estonian Genome Center at the University of Tartu, the Institute of Genomics, and the Estonian biobank will speak about the future of preemptive health care, highlighting why population-based biobanks are important for building a predictive genomics program, and showcasing examples from his work with a number of major European initiatives.

Dr. Andres Metspalu
Estonian Genome Center, University of Tartu
Biography ›

Prof. Andres Metspalu, MD, PhD, leads research in human genomics, genetics of complex diseases and population-based biobanks, and application of precision medicine in health care. He has published more than 500 papers and chapters in international peer-reviewed journals and books. He founded the Molecular Diagnostic Center of the Tartu University Hospital and is one of the founders and directors of the P3G Consortium of Biobanks (Montreal) and BBMRI-ERIC (a European research infrastructure for biobanking).

Webinar 2

The second webcast of the three-part series will have Prof. Samuli Ripatti of the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) and The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard discuss essentials of building a predictive genomics program, with examples of cardiometabolic diseases and common cancers.

Prof. Samuli Ripatti
Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) and The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Biography ›

Samuli Ripatti, PhD, is a Vice Director at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), a Professor of Biometry at the Faculty of Medicine (UH) and a Scholar at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, MA, USA. He chairs the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence in Complex Disease Genetics. His research group studies genetic variation in the Finnish population and its effects on common complex disease risks and management. His research focuses particularly on cardiometabolic diseases and cancer as models to learn about disease mechanisms and genome-based strategies for diagnosis, prevention, and stratified treatment. He will share examples from his extensive research in the field of predictive genomics.

Webinar 3

The final webcast in this predictive genomics webinar series will feature Dr. Pui-Yan Kwok of the University of California, San Francisco, and Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan and will highlight how the Applied Biosystems Axiom platform has allowed for early results from >250,000 participants part of their Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative. The results discussed during the webcast illustrate that with a large number of tested and affected, population-scale genetic testing can be used to identify high risk individuals and improve their health management through early disease screening and optimizing medication use.

Dr. Pui-Yan Kwok
University of California, San Francisco and Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
Biography ›

Prof. Kwok, MD, Ph.D., researches the development and use of state-of-the-art strategies to identify genetic factors associated with complex human traits. He and colleagues recently developed new technologies for single molecule analysis, resulting in a new platform for genome-wide mapping of structural variations, haplotyping, and de novo sequence assembly. In collaborations, he studies the genetics of longevity, sudden cardiac arrest, bipolar disorder, scleroderma, brain arteriovenous malformations, adverse drug reactions, and kidney transplantation outcome. Recently, he and collaborators generated genome-wide SNP profiles of >100,000 individuals with comprehensive health records to identify genetic and environmental factors associated with a multitude of conditions.