Alison Hall, Secretary of SGPPH, will be speaking at the Policy Engagement Session  of the ESRC conference, Cardiff, in the afternoon of 8 October.  This session is being run in collaboration with the SGPPH.

Registration is now open for this ESRC Genomics Network (EGN) 3rd International Conference, "Mapping the Genomic Era: Measurements and Meanings".

To register please see the website: http://www.genomicsnetwork.ac.uk/cesagen/events/esrcgenomicsnetworkconference2009/registration

SGPPH hosted a session at BSHG's annual conference in Warwick.  It took place on Tuesday 1 September 2009 from 1300 - 1400 on the following topic:

Gene patents: What have they got to do with us?

The Spring conference took place on Wednesday 3 June 2009 at Mary Ward House, Tavistock Place, London.  Click here for a report on the meeting.

The meeting discussed: 

"What is so special about genes?  Exploring the wider implications of genetics".

• The purpose of this meeting was to examine how truly exceptional genes are. It examined some of the recent technological and scientific developments that threaten this view, and examined how industry and regulators have sought to accommodate the changing perception of genes within their practice.  It considered how other types of information (such as that on family history) can be used instead of genetic information as a predictor of disease and more widely in health care. Both genetic information and family history information are used by insurers and employers to predict an individual's future likelihood of illness and disability.

• However, advances such as low cost genome wide scanning, coupled with population based research which are able to link genetic variants with common complex diseases such as cancer and heart disease, suggested a very different future. These advances and their likely implications for policy and regulation have been recently reviewed by the House of Lords Science and Technology Subcommittee Enquiry on Genomic Medicine whose report is due to be published shortly. The future impact of genomics on policy formed the subject of the final session of this meeting.

Speakers included:  Professor Sir David Weatherall, Regius Professor of Medicine Emeritus, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford; Dr Berwyn Clarke Chief Scientific & Development Officer, Lab21 Limited, Cambridge; Professor Nadeem Qureshi, Clinical Associate Professor, Division of Primary Care, Derby City General Hospital, Derby; Lord Naren Patel, Chancellor of Dundee University; Dr Marisa Papaluca-Amati, Deputy Head of Sector, Human Pre-authorisation Unit, Safety & Efficacy of Medicines, European Medicines Agency; and Dr Virginia Warren, Consultant in Public Health, BUPA, London. 

Click on the link on the speaker's name to see their presentation.

Click here to see the programme and the publicity flyer with the registration form.

The 3rd AGM of the Society for Genomics Policy and Population Health took place on Thursday 6 November 2008 at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.  The theme for the AGM was 'Genetic Screening'.