The University of Florida College of Pharmacy partnered with GenomeWeb’s Precision Medicine Leaders’ Summit to host the Updates in Precision Medicine and Pharmacogenomics Conference in Orlando, March 2-3. More than 250 attendees from a dozen countries joined in person and virtually to learn the latest about implementing pharmacogenomics into clinical practice.
An all-star speaker line-up featured more than 30 precision medicine and pharmacogenomics experts, including several faculty and former trainees from the UF College of Pharmacy. UF Health and the UF College of Pharmacy have long been leaders in developing strategies to bring genomic medicine to the clinic and guide pharmacotherapy decision-making. The first UF Precision Medicine Conference was held in 2016, and over the years it has evolved into an internationally recognized event that informs leaders in precision medicine implementation.
Sir Munir Pirmohamed, MB ChB (Hons), MRCP, Ph.D., FRCP, FRCP(E), PBPharmacolS, an international expert in pharmacogenomics and a professor at the University of Liverpool served as one of the conference’s keynote speakers. Pirmohamed compared the advances in precision medicine between health care systems in the United Kingdom and the United States, and he explained the difficulties of implementing pharmacogenomics in practice in both countries. He provided insight into the recent European Union Commission-funded study Preemptive Pharmacogenetic Testing for Preventive Adverse Drug Reactions which enrolled nearly 7,000 patients across Europe. The trial revealed more than 20% of patients had an actionable drug-gene interaction.
Other topics covered at the conference included diversity and its impact on pharmacogenomics; precision medicine acceptance and reimbursement; managing medications and pharmacogenomic testing; the role of the pharmacist in pharmacogenomics; digital tools in utilizing precision medicine; and many more. In addition to the speaker presentations, a poster session and reception were held at the conclusion of the first day for trainees and early career scientists to present their latest research related to pharmacogenomics.