VIDEO: ‘Phenomenal’ session on genomics of personalized medicine reviews range of diseases

In this video from the Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Association, Conrad "Chris" Weihl, MD, PhD, discusses the plenary session he co-chaired on the genomics of personalized medicine.

Weihl, a professor of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and chair of the scientific program advisory committee, discussed the presentations given throughout the session, which he co-chaired with Bryan J. Traynor, MD, PhD, and Tritia Yamasaki, MD, PhD. The session reviewed “emerging and new therapies that are focused [on] genetics and genomics,” he told Healio Neurology.

The presentations highlighted monogenic diseases like Duchenne muscular dystrophy as well as polygenetic diseases, including different forms of dementia. The session also featured two talks in which the presenters were researchers who also had genetic disorders themselves.

“The session was phenomenal in that it didn’t just bring up personalized medicine — it brought up a couple of personal stories,” Weihl said. “We often think about the patient, and the physician, and the researcher. ... In many cases, this was everyone combined into one.”