USF College of Pharmacy will host the international conference Sept. 22-24

Tampa, FL (August 23, 2011) — The first international conference hosted by the University of South Florida College of Pharmacy will focus on ways to improve health care by customizing drug prescribing and treatment based on an individual’s genetic makeup.

The 1st Annual International Conference on Developmental, Translational and Clinical Pharmacogenomics will be held Sept. 22 to 24 at the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Health Solutions at the USF Tampa campus, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue. Tampa, FL .

World-renowned scientists from the United States, China, India, Brazil, Canada and other countries will gather for the conference, which is sponsored by the USF College of Pharmacy, USF Health, and the Ibero-American Science & Technology Consortium.  Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the latest in personalized medicine and pharmacogenomics, the study of how genetic variation among individuals contributes to differences in the way people respond to medicines.

USF College of Pharmacy Dean Kevin Sneed
heads the conference organizing committee.

While still in its infancy, the field of pharmacogenomics holds promise for the development of drugs customized to more effectively and safely treat a wide range of conditions, including cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS and asthma.

Conference speakers and topics will include:

• Mark Ratain, MD, associate director of clinical sciences at the University of Chicago’s Cancer Research Center, “Pharmacogenetics in Oncology.”

• Lin He, PhD, dean of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, “Genes, Diseases & Drug Therapy.”

• Kelan Tantisira, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, “Pharmacogenetics in Asthma Treatment.”

• Katherine Kolor, PhD, policy officer, National Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Translation of Genomic Tests.”

• Julie Johnson, PharmD, professor of cardiovascular medicine, University of Florida Colleges of Pharmacy & Medicine, director of UF Center for Pharmacogenomics, “Cardiovascular Pharmacogenetics and Individualized Drug Therapy.”

There will be a poster presentation session.  For more information on the event, please visit http://health.usf.edu/pharmacy/USFPGXCONF, or contact Eleonor Dodard at edodard@health.usf.edu

USF Health

USF Health is dedicated to creating a model of health care based on understanding the full spectrum of health. It includes the University of South Florida’s colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health and Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group.  Ranked 34th in federal research expenditures for public universities by the National Science Foundation, the University of South Florida is a high impact global research university.