Personalised, predictive, preventive and participatory

The Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists will hold its Annual Scientific Conference in Adelaide in October.

The upcoming Annual Scientific Conference of the Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists (AACB) will focus on Clinical Biochemistry Supporting P4 Medicine - the four ‘Ps’ representing personalised, predictive, preventive and participatory.

How the application of the four Ps can improve health outcomes while containing healthcare costs will form the major theme of the meeting.

The term P4 was originally proposed by well-known American inventor and scientist Dr Leroy Hood. Hood has played a pivotal role in genomics and proteomics research by developing foundational instrumentation such as the automated DNA sequencer. He takes a holistic approach to biology and medicine, explicating a way of the future where technology will improve biological knowledge and P4 medicine will transform health care from a largely reactive discipline to a proactive one.

Advances in genetics, genomics, pharmacogenomics and their associated technologies continue to bring new insights into preventative medicine.

Updates on the impact of new technologies and research on laboratory medicine will be given by world experts at the meeting.

A few highlights include:

• Professor Steven Wong from Physicians Choice Laboratory Services in the US will give a plenary talk on the role of pharmacogenomics in personalised medicine and personalised justice.
• Professor Khosrow Adeli from the Hospital for Sick Children in Canada will give a plenary on patient safety and result reporting.
• World leader of research into Alzheimer’s disease Professor Ralph Martins from the McKusker Alzheimer’s Research Foundation in Western Australia will give a plenary on the early diagnosis and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.

Two interactive workshops will also be held alongside the conference. A pathology workshop, aimed at developing ways of promoting the value of pathology, and a quality control workshop, which follows on from the QC workshop held in 2013.

The closing date for early bird registration is 15 August 2014.

For more information go to the conference website at: www.aacb.asn.au.

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Clinical Biochemistry Supporting P4 Medicine

27-29 October 2014, Adelaide, South Australia

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Image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Mehrere Werte