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Presentation Title: Genomic Medicine
Dr. Pao will review current technological capabilities in genome analysis and how primary care practice could adapt to imrpove detection and management of hereditary conditions.
Time: Sunday Afternoon
Purpose:
To improve on clinical competence and performance in the application of genetic testing and disease prevention as molecular medicine or genomic medicine is going to be an important part of the future of medical practice
Objectives:
- Examine studies on the role of VKORC1 mutations and warfarin dose
- Utilize appropriate tools to collect patients' family history
- Communicate and interpret results of genetic testing to patients and their families
- Plan when to refer patients for genetic counseling
Current Positions:
Senior Research Associate, Laboratory of Genetics, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA
Bio:
Dr. Gerald M Pao was born in Madrid, Spain to ethnically Chinese and Eurasian parents and was educated in the German educational system until the end of high school. Since the age of 12, he has had a keen interest of molecular biology and it was at this age that he was guided by Professor Gines Morata of the molecular biology institute at the autonomous university of Madrid (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid). After the German high school completion exam (Abitur) he moved to California to attend the University of California San Diego where he majored in molecular biology. While an undergraduate he published several papers on the subject of molecular evolution. Subsequently Dr. Pao studied and performed research at the Fred Hutchinson cancer Research Center and the University of Washington in Seattle before completing his PhD at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California in the laboratory of Dr Inder Verma. During his PhD he was awarded a fellowship of the Chapman foundation and subsequently he has been a fellow of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine for three years. During his PhD Dr. Pao worked on the Breast and ovarian cancer gene BRCA1 and has subsequently worked on various areas which include: Neural stem cells in the development of the brain, silencing of retroviruses in embryonic stem cells, development of lentiviral and retroviral vectors for the genetic modification of embryonic stem cells, as well as mechanisms of silencing and heterochromatin formation also in embryonic stem cells. In addition he has also won the inaugural Roche 1 Gigabase award that has allowed him to initiate the investigation of salamander limb regeneration and the formation of regenerative stem cells that allow amphibians to regenerate amputated limbs in collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. Tony Hunter. This work was recently featured in the MIT technology review and in Scientific American magazines. Dr. Pao published in 2011 work that defines molecular function of the Breast and Ovarian cancer gene BRCA1. His most recent work has been in the genome wide analysis of gene expression data using next generation sequencing and developing big data analysis methods derived from nonlinear dynamics and chaos theory to distinguish correlation from causation in genome wide data sets.