NSW Big Ideas Oncology Seminar: Professor John Mattick

John Mattick, NSW Big Ideas Oncology Seminar

Please join us at UNSW on Monday the 25th of November for the upcoming NSW Big Idea Oncology Seminar where we will hear from Professor John Mattick who will be discussing the transformation of medical research and healthcare by genomics and big data. The seminar will then be followed by a short networking session from 13:30-14:00 where lunch will be provided.

John Mattick is a Professor of RNA Biology at UNSW Sydney. He was previously the Chief Executive of Genomics England and Director of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, where he established one of the first clinically accredited genome analysis facilities. Prior to that, he was the Foundation Director of the Institute for Molecular Bioscience and the Australian Genome Research Facility at the University of Queensland.

Title: The transformation of medical research and healthcare by genomics and big data

All human characteristics, including complex traits and susceptibility to diseases, including cancer, are strongly influenced by genetic factors, although until recently it has been nigh on impossible to take genetic information into account in healthcare. This has changed - over the past two decades the fastest technological advance in history has reduced the cost of human genome sequencing dramatically – prompting an exponentially increasing number and scale of genome sequencing programs, which will usher in a new era of personalized medicine and ‘precision’ healthcare. This information is already having a major impact on the diagnosis and treatment of genetic disorders and cancer. Sooner or later individual genome sequences will be a standard part of health records, and research and the clinic will fuse: millions of genome sequences integrated with millions of clinical records and, equally if not more importantly, information from smart sensors will create a multi-dimensional data ecology that will transform medical research, personal health and health economics. It will also provide the platform for innovative and disruptive enterprises, using systems to enable the interrogation of the data by machine learning and artificial intelligence, and software to deliver this information to the point of care. However, at present no jurisdiction has embraced this revolution in its entirety, nor built the data infrastructure to bring it to fruition. Australia has the potential to do so using the considerable resources available to the Medical Research Future Fund, but the MRFF lacks vision and its funds are currently expended on worthy projects that have little strategic impact. One only has to imagine the healthcare landscape of the future to realise the opportunities.

This event is hosted by the University of New South Wales, the University of Sydney, and the Centre for Molecular Oncology.

For all inquiries, please contact [email protected]

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Wallace Wurth Building (C27), Wallace Wurth Building (C27), Cnr High St & Botany St, Kensington, Australia