Session Abstract – PMWC 2020 Silicon Valley

Track 3 - January 22 10.30 A.M.-11.30 A.M.


Recently, several unique partnerships for population sequencing studies have been launched. Various medical organizations and pharmaceutical and direct-to-consumer testing companies are included in these partnerships. The designed studies are expected to create new insights, identify new disease targets, and improve individualized patient care. In this session we will hear updates about several of these collaborative population studies to learn about the various opportunities created, the resulting benefits for each of the partners, and the challenges that need to be overcome in relation to data flow and data sharing.

 Session Chair Profile

M.D., Ph.D., Chief Genomics Officer (CGO), UCSF Health

Biography
Dr. Aleksandar Rajkovic serves as the UCSF Chief Genomics Officer and is the Medical Director and Chief of the Center for Genetic and Genomic Medicine (CGGM) that organizes, coordinates and oversees Clinical Genetics and Genomics Services across the entire UCSF Health System. He also serves as the Director of the Genomic Medicine Initiative. He is also Stuart Lindsay Distinguished Professor in Experimental Pathology I, member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and American Association of Physicians. His research interests lie in basic and translational medical sciences in the area of reproductive genetics. Dr. Rajkovic discovered numerous genes that play critical roles in reproductive tract development, male and female infertility, and uterine tumors. He has been at the forefront of applying cutting edge genomic technologies to reproductive diagnostics, including prenatal diagnosis, preimplantation genetic screening, and perinatal genomics. He has made significant contributions to non-invasive diagnosis of submicroscopic deletions, design and utility of dense X chromosome arrays, and utility of genome wide detection of copy number variants in prenatal diagnosis. His current interests lie in whole genome applications towards population based health prediction and prevention, as well as prevention of Mendialian disorders.


 Speaker Profile

M.D., Ph.D., Head of Therapeutics Development, 23andMe

Biography
Jennifer Low joined 23andMe in 2018 as Head of Therapeutics Development. She oversees the transition of potential therapeutics from 23andMe's research laboratories into clinical development studies. Jennifer has considerable drug development experience. She has been the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Research and Development at Loxo Oncology where she oversaw the clinical development of Vitrakvi. Prior to that she was a Senior Group Director at Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, where she oversaw the Erivedge, Zelboraf, and Cotellic clinical development programs among many others. She received her undergraduate degree from Caltech, her MD and PhD degrees from Georgetown, and completed her internal medicine residency at the University of California Davis, her medical oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute. She has co-authored papers appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine and Science.


 Speaker Profile

M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Renown Health

Biography
Dr. Tony Slonim is one of the nation’s most innovative and progressive health leaders. With a personal passion for improving health, Tony caught the industry’s attention by launching the Healthy Nevada Project®, the first and fastest-growing population health study combining genetic, environmental, social and clinical data to address individual and community health needs. With nearly 40,000 study volunteers enrolled across the state, the Project is returning clinically actionable results to participants and conducting extensive research. Recognized nationally as a thought leader, Modern Healthcare named Tony to its Most Influential Physician Executives and Leaders list. He has also been honored on Becker’s Hospital Review’s “Physician Leaders to Know” list since 2014. A quadruple board-certified physician with more than 120 publications and 15 textbooks to his name, Tony is a certified pediatric intensivist by training, a two time TEDx speaker.and chair of the American Hospital Association’s Systems Council representing more than 300 integrated health systems.


 Speaker Profile

Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz

Biography
Olena Vaske is the Founder of the Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative at the University of Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, where she is Assistant Professor of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology. Dr. Vaske is the scientific lead for the California Kids Cancer Comparison (CKCC) project, one of the demonstration projects of the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine, a public-private effort recently launched by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. Dr. Vaske’s research focuses on developing novel RNA-Seq analysis approaches to discover druggable targets for pediatric cancer patients. Dr. Vaske holds a PhD in Bioinformatics from the University of British Columbia and a BSc (Hons) in Molecular Genetics and Biology from the University of Toronto.


 Speaker Profile

M.D., FACMG, Medical Director, Mark R. Neaman Center for Personalized Medicine, NorthShore University HealthSystem

Biography
Dr. Hulick is the Medical Director of the Mark R. Neaman Center for Personalized Medicine and Division Head for the Center for Medical Genetics at NorthShore University HealthSystem, which applies genomic information to prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human disease with the vision to bring genomics guided care to every patient and their family. He joined NorthShore as an attending physician in medical genetics in 2008 and became Division Head of Medical Genetics in 2012. Dr. Hulick also serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Previously, he served as an attending physician in medical genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Hulick earned his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in 2001. He completed a residency in internal medicine at St. Luke’s Hospital – Mayo Clinic, and completed a clinical fellowship in medical genetics at Harvard Medical School.


 Speaker Profile

Ph.D., Deputy Director, UCLA Institute for Precision Health

Biography
Dr. Lajonchere is the Deputy Director for the UCLA Institute for Precision Health and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Her background reflects a wide range of professional, clinical, and research experience across CNS disorders. She has spent her career on cross-cutting issues in psychiatric genetics and translational medicine. Through the Institute, Dr. Lajonchere worked collaboratively with thought leaders across the state of California to advance precision medicine and improve outcomes for patients. Prior to UCLA, Dr. Lajonchere held faculty appointments at USC where she conducted her own NIH research, and served as VP of Clinical Programs for Autism Speaks. More recently, she served as the Chief Scientific Officer for Cognoa, Inc, a digital healthcare company in Palo Alto and consults for several tech start-ups in the autism space focused on AI, robotics, and targeted therapeutics.