Genetics

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD

Guest: William Foulkes, MD, PhD

The need to manage the health of patients with cancer, and at risk for developing cancer, has given rise to the field of cancer genomics. What is this field? What are the roles within the specialty? And how do they work with patients?Host Dr. Bruce Bloom talks with Dr. William Foulkes, director of the cancer genetics program at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD

Guest: William Foulkes, MD, PhD

What has genetic research taught us about the inheritance of common cancers? And how can we use this knowledge to help patients? Dr. William Foulkes, director of the cancer genetics program at McGill University in Canada, talks with host Dr. Bruce Bloom about the questions raised and the answers revealed when we look at cancer risk from a genetic perspective.

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD

Guest: Dan Roden, MD

What are the tools that will finally make personalized medicine a reality? Dr. Dan Roden, the William Stokes Professor of Experimental Therapeutics, vice-chancellor for personalized medicine and the director of the John Oates Institute for Experimental Therapeutics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, joins host Dr. Bruce Bloom, DNA banks, electronic medical records and more.

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD

Guest: Dan Roden, MD

The greatest side effect of medications is that they often don't do what we expect them to do. Dr. Dan Roden, professor in the departments of medicine and pharmacology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, talks with Dr. Bruce Bloom about variability in response to drugs. Genetic components are just one of many reasons patients respond differently. Dr. Roden also discusses his specific work with customizing treatment for patients with arrhythmias based upon the disease mechanism.

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD

Guest: Laurie Zoloth, PhD

Dr. Laurie Zoloth, director of the Northwestern University Center for Bioethics, Science and Society, talks about ovarian cryopreservation, maturation of oocytes in vitro, and politicized laboratory breakthroughs that were intended to meet the needs of female cancer survivors. She argues that we need to be prepared to deal with patients who will use the tools offered by oncofertility to delay childbearing, and meet the need for tissue in stem cell research. Hosted by Dr. Maurice Pickard.

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD

Guest: Laurie Zoloth, PhD

The preservation of female cancer patients' fertility after treatment is a new area of concern for researchers, clinicians, and patients. Dr. Laurie Zoloth, professor of medical humanities, bioethics, Jewish studies and religion and also director of the Northwestern University Center for Bioethics, Science and Society, talks with host Dr. Maurice Pickard about broad issues of reproduction, as well as breakthroughs in the lab and how clinicians can handle treatment discussions when they're compounded by the topic of fertility.

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD

Guest: Berish Rubin, PhD

Host Dr. Bruce Bloom welcomes Dr. Berish Rubin, professor in the department of biological sciences and head of the Laboratory for Familial Dysautonomia research at Fordham University in Bronx, New York. A genetic condition, symptoms include inability to swallow, respiratory congestion, poor muscle tone, and delayed developmental milestones. Dr. Rubin reports on the latest research and how close we are to finding a cure.

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD

Guest: Berish Rubin, PhD

In only three months' time, researchers Dr. Berish Rubin and Dr. Sylvia Anderson and their team uncovered the genetic cause of familial dysautonomia (FD). Dr. Rubin, professor in the department of biological sciences at Fordham University, joins host Dr. Bruce Bloom to share his story and the research that led them to identify the gene mutation responsible for FD, a variation most often found in the Ashkenazi Jewish population. They also discuss symptoms a clinician can use to diagnose FD, common treatments and the future direction of FD research.

Host: Lee Freedman, MD

Guest: Artemis Simopoulos, MD

The field of genetics was developing so rapidly in 1975, that the National Academy of Sciences published a set of genetic screening guidelines. These guidelines are still considered classic over three decades after their publication. Do all of the recommendations remain true today? Host Dr. Lee Freedman outlines the guidelines with guest Dr. Artemis Simopoulos, founder and president of the non-profit Center for Genetics, Nutrition and Health. Which recommendations have been adhered to, and which ones need more attention?

Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Grace Kuo, PharmD, MPH

In the minds of healthcare professionals, pharmacogenomics often conjures images of cutting-edge medical technology, and even a sense that the word describes the future of medicine moreso than the present. Aside from vague notions, it’s not clear that most of us have a solid grasp of what contemporary pharmacogenomics entails. How might we bridge this gap in our knowledge? Dr. Grace Kuo, associate professor of clinical pharmacy and director of the Pharmacogenomics Education Program at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, explains the genesis and foremost goals of this program with host Dr. Charles Turck. How should we think about 21st-century pharmacogenomics, in terms of what it may hold for our patients and our practices?