IDF Evening Webinar - Penn Medicine - Leveraging Genetics for Precision Medicine and Prevention

Event Details

We are delighted to invite you to an Evening Webinar with Penn Medicine on Leveraging Genetics for Precision Medicine and Prevention.

Key topics that will be covered:

• Gain an understanding of how a US academic medical centre is employing genetic screening in general and subspecialty practices
• Consider  the value in clinical practice of whole exome sequencing, polygenic risk scores, pharmacogenetics and gene mutation panels, including those for cardiac and oncology disorders
• Appreciate the importance of genetic counselling as an integral aspect of screening and prevention.

Speakers

Mr Mick Merritt, Chief Operating Officer of Signature Services at Penn Medicine. In this role, he is responsible for Penn Medicine’s global strategy and programs, patient facilitated services, executive health, and membership programs.  Mick has over twenty years of experience in healthcare and academic medicine as a management consultant and health system leader.  Mick’s more than twelve-year consulting career has spanned clinical, education and research-related strategic and operational advisory services to academic medical centres and health systems across the U.S. and abroad where he served in leadership roles at Manatt Health and The Chartis Group. Mick Merritt graduated from Cornell University, with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.  

 Dr Daniel Rader, MD, Seymour Gray Professor of Molecular Medicine Chair, Department of Genetics. Dr Rader’s research focuses on the human genetics and functional genomics of lipoprotein metabolism and atherosclerosis, as well as the translational implications for novel therapeutic approaches.  He ‘rescued’ an abandoned molecule that reduces cholesterol and led the successful development of this compound as a novel therapeutic for patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia.  He is known for his work in HDL metabolism and HDL function, as well as for his pioneering studies of novel biological pathways in lipid metabolism revealed through genome-wide human genetics studies.  

 Dr Anjali Tiku Owens, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine Medical Director, Penn Centre for Inherited Cardiovascular Disease. Dr Owens completed her medical degree and undergraduate degree at Duke University. She completed a internship, residency, chief medical residency, and fellowships in Heart Failure and Transplantation and in Cardiovascular Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr Owens is a member of the American Heart Association and the Heart Failure Society of America. She serves on a number of national committees focused on increasing awareness and educating medical professionals on inherited cardiovascular disease. 

 Dr Susan M. Domchek, MD, Basser Professor in Oncology Executive Director, Basser Centre for BRCA Director, MacDonald Women’s Cancer Risk Evaluation Centre. Dr Domchek focuses on the genetic evaluation and medical management of individuals with inherited risk factors for cancer. Dr. Domchek is particularly interested in developing new cancer therapies, such as PARP inhibitors, for breast cancer due to genetic risk factors. An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians, Dr. Domchek is also a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology for which she had served on a number of committees. 

 Ms Stephanie Asher, MS CGC, Associate Director of Genetic Counselling for the Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Asher’s work has focused on the provision of clinical genetic counselling services for families. Her clinical practice concentrates on rare hereditary cancer syndromes, aortopathies, and connective tissue disorders. More broadly, Ms. Asher has worked to expand genetic counselling services at Penn Medicine beyond the traditional model. This has included collaboration to develop new clinical services within Hepatology and Otorhinolaryngology, researching alternative service delivery models within Cardiothoracic Surgery, and working on the Penn Genomics Integration initiative to explore novel ways to store genomics information within the electronic medical record system.