The 25th Golden Helix Pharmacogenomics Day was successfully organized in Opatja, Croatia, as part of the 32nd Meeting of the European Society of Paediatric Clinical Research (ESPCR) with the theme “Bioinformatics tools for next-generation sequencing analysis in pharmacogenomics”. The meeting was co-organized by the Institute of Moelcular Genetics and Genetic Engineering and the Golden Helix Foundation, as part of the PharmGenHUB project, funded by Horizon Europe.
This international event was open for biomedical scientists, hospital and general pharmacists, specialists, general practitioners, medical students, laboratory technicians, regulators, healthcare insurers and others interested in pharmacogenomics.
The meeting featured plenary lectures from local and international speakers on the bioinformatics applications of pharmacogenomics, especially within the scope of the PharmGenHUB project.
On behalf of the Organizers
IntroductionSpeakersScientific ProgramPharmGenHUBGalleryThe 25th Golden Helix Pharmacogenomics Day was successfully organized in Opatja, Croatia, as part of the 32nd Meeting of the European Society of Paediatric Clinical Research (ESPCR) with the theme “Bioinformatics tools for next-generation sequencing analysis in pharmacogenomics”. The meeting was co-organized by the Institute of Moelcular Genetics and Genetic Engineering and the Golden Helix Foundation, as part of the PharmGenHUB project, funded by Horizon Europe.
This international event was open for biomedical scientists, hospital and general pharmacists, specialists, general practitioners, medical students, laboratory technicians, regulators, healthcare insurers and others interested in pharmacogenomics.
The meeting featured plenary lectures from local and international speakers on the bioinformatics applications of pharmacogenomics, especially within the scope of the PharmGenHUB project.
On behalf of the Organizing Committee
Organizers
Branka Zukic, Belgrade, Serbia
Sonja Pavlovic, Belgrade, Serbia
Christina Mitropoulou, London, UK
Speakers
Kariofyllis Karamperis, Patras, GR
Nikola Kotur, Belgrade, Serbia
Christina Mitropoulou, London, UK
Sonja Pavlovic, Belgrade, Serbia
Branka Zukic, Belgrade, Serbia
13:00 – 16:15: Registration
16:15 – 16:30: Welcome address
16:30 – 16:50 Branka Zukic, Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Project PharmHenHUB: Population pharmacogenomics in the Western Balkans
16:50 – 17:10 Christina Mitropoulou, The Golden Helix Foundation, London, UK and United Arab Emirates University, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Genetics and Genomics, Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Health Economics in Personalised Medicine: Results from the PREPARE clinical study
17:10 – 17:30 Kariofyllis Karamperis, The Golden Helix Foundation, London, UK and University of Patras, Department of Pharmacy, Patras, Greece
Deciphering the concept of population pharmacogenomics and its clinical impact: A worlwide spectrum
17:30 – 17:40 Branka Zukic, Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Technology
17:40 – 17:50 Nikola Kotur, Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Bioinformatic preprocessing of NGS data: from raw data to genetic variants
17:50 – 18:00 Nikola Kotur, Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Bioinformatics resources in pharmacogenomics research
18:00 – 18:10 Sonja Pavlovic, Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Interpretation of NGS Results: analysis of pharmacogenomics variants 18:10 – 18:30 Discussion and Conclusions
PharmGenHUB: European funded project
The PharmGenHUB (https://pharmgenhub.rs) is a European funded project aiming to create a Pharmacogenomics Hub of Excellence in Western Balkans. With ~200,000 deaths/year in Europe due to adverse drug reactions, it has become an imperative to improve treatment outcomes. In Western Balkans, individualization of therapy is done sporadically.
The Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering (IMGGE), University of Belgrade, Serbia is a pioneer in pharmacogenomics in Western Balkans. PharmGenHUB will strengthen IMGGE’s PGx potential by exchanging knowledge between IMGGE and three EU partnering institutions, namely the University of Patras, Greece (UPAT), the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (UL), and the University of Trieste, Italy (UNITS). Through collaboration and knowledge sharing with 3 EU partners, IMGGE will become a central place in Western Balkans for PGx diagnostics, education and trainings, and translation of PGx knowledge into clinically applicable digital solutions. IMGGE’s research project, high-throughput DNA sequencing of Western Balkan populations, with support of UPAT and UL, will identify Western Balkan specific drug-PGx marker pairs and enable design of electronic tool for better decision-making in clinical practice, electronic PGx assistant for WB (ePGA-WB). iPSc model for validation of novel PGx markers relevant for Europe will be introduced at IMGGE with support of UNITS.
Also, IMGGE aims to renew, reinforce and establish new connections through networking with Western Balkans institutions. Project will be realized through short-term visits of IMGGE staff to EU partner institutions, staff exchanges, on-site trainings, experimental laboratory work. Outreach activities will include Golden Helix PGx days, Western Balkans conference and joint summer schools. To strengthen research management capacities and administrative skills of IMGGE staff, a research management unit will be established with assistance from UPAT. As focal point of PGx translational research, IMGGE will impact on Western Balkans health-care cost benefits and facilitate Western Balkans integration to EU-PGx research area through R&I activities and digitalization.
