16TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL GENE FORUM 2016

Estonian Genome Centre of University of Tartu and Estonian Genome Foundation cordially invite you to attend the 16th Annual International Gene Forum 2016.

Gene Forum 2016 (www.geneforum.ee) is an annual international high-level scientific conference including exhibition on genetics and genomics. Being also a major event in the Baltics, it provides an excellent opportunity to establish and renew contacts in this region of the European Union.

Gene Forum 2016 subtitled as “Personal Genome and Beyond”, will focus on three leading themes: massive databases for genome sequences, genetics of cognitive function and potential of large biobanks in drug discovery. To start with the last, Dr Unnur Thorsteinsdottir from deCODE Genomics, world leading company in human genomics, which has combined a thousand years of genealogy threes with deep medical records and genetic profiles for more than third of the Icelandic population. deCODE was obtained by Amgen, a pharmaceuticals giant, currently developing a new family of drugs based on Icelandic unique databases. Dr Daniel MacArthur (Broad Institute, Boston) and Prof Jan Korbel (EMBL, Germany) will discuss the lessons learned from analyzing thousands of deep human genome sequences and developed databases potential implication to everyday clinical practice. Prof Robert Plomin (King’s College London, UK) and Dr Daniel Benjamin (University o f Southern California, USA) lead several landmark studies on genetic basis of cognitive function, bringing the DNA variants linked with given behavioral phenotype from near zero to more than 160. Both will discuss novel ways to collect highly accurate social phenotypes by using online games, questionnaires and mobile applications. Our everyday mobility and telecommunication use is systematically searched by Prof Rein Ahas (University of Tartu) and his team which allows them to build accurate predictors on awekedness profile, personality traits and even the healthiness of our lifestyle.
Gene Forum 2016 presents the following speakers:
Robert Plomin, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, UK;
Daniel Benjamin, Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California; Social Science Genetic Association Consortium (SSGAC), USA;
Daniel MacArthur, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, USA;
Jacques Fellay, Global Health Institute, EPFL School of Life Sciences, Switzerland;
Bogdan Draganski, LREN – Department of Clinical Neurosciences, CHUV, University Lausanne, Switzerland;
Krina Zondervan, Endometriosis CaRe Centre, Nuffield Dept of Obstetrics & Gynaecology/Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, UK;
Anna Murray, University of Exeter Medical School, UK;
Mark G. Thomas, Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, UK;
Elaine Holmes, Imperial College of London, UK;
Vijay G. Sankaran, Boston Children’s Hospital and Department of Pediatric Oncology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA;
Magnus Ingelman-Sundberg, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden;
Rein Ahas, University of Tartu, Estonia;
Johannes Krause, University of Tübingen; Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany;
Terry Vrijenhoek, Staff and Faculty Advisor, Department of Genetics, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Netherlands;
Niels Grarup, The Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Denmark;
Thierry Voet, KU Leuven, Belgium;
Jan Korbel, Genome Biology Unit, EMBL, Germany;
Unnur Thorsteinsdottir, Vice President of Research, deCODE genetics, Iceland.

The Gene Forum will take place in Tartu, the second biggest city of Estonia, rich in academic and historical traditions. The conference will be held in the Dorpat Conference Centre. We hope that your stay in Tartu will be both enjoyable and scientifically stimulating.

Registration:
May 20th is deadline for early-bird registration.
June 5th is deadline for registration to the conference.
In order to register to the Gene Forum 2016, please complete the registration form.

Participation fee:
Conference fee includes full attendance, exhibition, conference materials, coffee/tea breaks, lunches and Buffet Dinner in June 9th.
Participation fee until May 20th: Commercial 259 EUR, Academic 179 EUR.
Participation fee from May 21st: Commercial: 319 EUR, Academic 219 EUR.
(excluding VAT 20%).

Exhibition:
All the interested organisations and companies are invited to participate in the Gene Forum 2016 Exhibition. Exhibition will be held as a parallel event during the meeting in the spacious lobby area of the conference centre. Minimum exhibit space is 6 square meters (3×2 m). The price (550 EUR excluding VAT 20%) includes basic furnishings in the booth (tables and chairs). Additional furnishings are available upon request. Exhibit space will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. In order to book exhibit space, please contact Maris Väli-Täht (e-mail: maris.vali-taht@ut.ee).