The American Society of Human Genetics hosts 58th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia

• The recently-appointed ASHG Ancestry Testing Task Force Committee plans to unveil the Society's new "ASHG Ancestry Testing Statement and Recommendations: Guidelines for Understanding the Issues and Implications Involved" at the 2008 Annual Meeting in a press briefing session featuring principal members of the Task Force Committee, including the current president of ASHG, Aravinda Chakravarti, PhD, and president-elect, Edward McCabe, MD, PhD.

• Francis Collins, MD, PhD, world-renowned author, physician-geneticist and former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health, will moderate a press briefing session on "Genome-Wide Association Studies and the 1000 Genomes Project: Implications and Clinical Applications." This session will feature the following panel of distinguished speakers discussing GWA studies' impact on health care practice, and the ethical, legal, and social consequences of this type of research:
  • David Altshuler, MD, PhD – "The 1000 Genomes Project"
  • David Valle, MD – "Translating GWAS Data: Bridging the Gap Between Scientific Discovery, Clinical Research and Health Care Practice"
  • Kathy Hudson, PhD – "GWA Studies' Impact on Society: An Overview of Ethical, Legal and Social Implications and the Influence on Public Attitudes About Genetic Research"

Friday, November 14, 2008:

• "Novel Genetic Disease Treatments and Therapies: From Scientific Discovery to Medical Delivery" will highlight some of the most exciting new scientific research on successful genetic disease treatments and therapies presented at the ASHG 2008 meeting, including: the results of a genome-wide association scan for genetic determinants of warfarin dosage, a successful enzyme replacement therapy for Type I Gaucher Disease, and breakthrough research on a new treatment that has the potential to be the first successful therapy for Huntington's Disease.

OTHER ASHG 2008 MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

• Presidential Symposium: "Human Genome Stories" featuring presentations from four distinguished invited speakers, including Craig Venter, PhD, founder of The Institute for Genomic Research, who played a central role in the race to map the human genome.

• Presidential Address: "Principia Genetica: Our Future Science" presented by the current president of ASHG, Aravinda Chakravarti, PhD, Johns Hopkins University Medical School.

• The ASHG Communications Office will host an Invited Education Session intended for Society members and press attendees titled, "Genetics Education by the News and Entertainment Media: Paradox or Paradigm?" A panel of four expert speakers will address how geneticists can improve the way they communicate complex scientific research results to the media. This session will also provide press attendees with tips on how to more accurately cover topics and issues related to human genetics, and how to avoid the biases and inaccuracies that are commonly found in news and "infotainment" media coverage.

To view a complete listing (and the full-text abstracts) of all scientific sessions and posters presented at the 2008 meeting, visit: http://www.ashg.org/2008meeting/pages/sessionlisting.shtml/.