TEACHER
Date:29 July (Friday)
Time: 09:00 – 10:30 (GMT+8)
Distinguished Research Fellow and Director (Academician)
Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica
Genetic variation leads to differences in drug response and is the major reason why many medications developed in the West are less effective or cause adverse drug reactions in Asians. Genetic factors also affect one’s health and are highly correlated with longevity. Comprehensive genetic testing and genetic profiling can now be done efficiently and inexpensively, making it possible to explore the utility of genetic profiling large populations for optimal drug development and health management. National projects are underway in the UK and Finland with these goals in mind. The Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative is the largest such project outside of Europe with the goal of enrolling 1 million Han Chinese participants. The participants provide their DNA samples and clinical data for disease risk and drug response model development. In return, the participants receive their disease risk and drug response profiles, with guidelines for risk mitigation and healthy living. To-date, over 500,000 participants have been enrolled, with genetic/clinical data obtained from over 335,000 participants. Preliminary studies show that preemptive genetic profiling is useful in drug development and health promotion. When genetic profiles of the entire population are incorporated into clinical practice, there will be major savings in healthcare cost and substantial improvement in population health.