Genetic Prediction of Common Diseases –
Medical and Social Aspects
A Public Lecture by
Professor Martin Bobrow
Abstract
Genetics has the power to predict future biological events, and medical genetics has been used for many decades to predict risk of inherited disorders. The recent expansion of genetic knowledge and availability of powerful tools for genomic analysis, have led to the expectation that useful prediction of the probability of individuals being affected by common multifactorial disorders will become possible. This would have implications for individual health and for public health. It could also, if applied to classification of future risk in non-medical contexts, lead to altered practice in areas such as insurance availability and employment rights. Strongly divergent views have been expressed on the proper place of genetics in insurance. A logical dissection of the issues on both sides reveals that some previously accepted aspects of insurance practice have been left unexamined by those interested in public policy; while some of the claims on behalf of medical genetics have also perhaps been exaggerated, causing undue anxiety amongst both public and insurers.
Details
Date: 11 January 2006 (Wednesday)
Time: 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Registration begins 30 minutes before the lecture
Venue: *Please note change of venue
Breakthrough theatre
30 Biopolis Street
Level 4, Matrix
Singapore 138671
Registration:

Free admission.
Please register early to book your seat.
Contact Ms Jessy Chen at 6826-6264 or jessy_chen@bioethics-singapore.org
 
About the Speaker
PROFESSOR MARTIN BOBROW
CBE, DSc, FRCP, FRCPath, FMedSci, FRS

Professor Martin Bobrow came to Britain after graduating from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa (BSc Anatomy and Physiology; BSc (Hons) Experimental Physiology; MB BCh, DSc). He worked in Edinburgh, Oxford, Amsterdam and London before becoming Professor of Medical Genetics in the University of Cambridge.

Professor Bobrow was Professor of Medical Genetics and Head of the Medical Genetics Department at the University of Cambridge for the past ten years. Presently, he is a Governor and Deputy Chairman of the Wellcome Trust and the National Chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. He has served many years in the UK Medical Research Council, being Chairman to several of its Advisory Committees. He was also Chairman of the Department of Health’s Unrelated Living Transplant Regulating Authority and Advisory Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment; a member of the Human Genetics Advisory Commission; and advisor to a number of medical charities.

Professor Bobrow was actively involved in the Nuffield Council on Bioethics and was its Deputy Chairman for several years, playing an important role in the many reports and discussion papers, which the Council has produced. He was a founder fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, a member of the influential group of UK national academies, which act as authoritative body to promote medical science across traditional disciplinary boundaries, and has been elected to the Royal Society.

In addition, Professor Bobrow has been on the editorial boards of many genetics journals.

Professor Bobrow received the Harding Award from Action Research in 2001, which is presented annually for outstanding work of immediate or future benefit to disabled people. He has set up many clinical studies into various conditions, notably muscular dystrophy, and his influence has been particularly important for the development of medical genetics services and research in the UK.

Professor Bobrow has been a member of the Singapore’s Bioethics Advisory Committee's International Panel of Experts since March 2001 and was involved in the deliberations on ethical issues concerning research that involves human stem cells, cloning, human tissues and genetic testing, and research ethics governance.