The lecture series, “Crossroads: Ideas for a New Century” will conclude its 2008-09 season on Saturday, May 23, 7:30 p.m. at the Orcas Center with Russ Altman, Professor of Bioengineering, Genetics and Medicine at Stanford University, talk on “Personalized Medicine: Prescribing the Right Drugs Based on Your Genes.”
The current process for approving drugs ensures that drugs are mostly safe and effective. For some people, a particular medication may work well with no side effects, while for others the same prescription may be ineffective or yield unbearable side effects. Of the many factors that account for these differences, one of the most important is genetic variability. An individual’s response to some drugs, it seems, may “run in the family,” and these variations become especially important when the drugs involved can pose risks at either too high or too low a dose. Altman will help explain this new approach to medicine by reviewing the basic concepts of pharmacology and genetics, and will discuss how health care providers may use genetics to find the right drug at the right dose for each patient.
Altman describes his work as “a dialogue between the engineer and the physician” within him. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard College, and went on to earn both an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Medical Information Sciences at Stanford, where he now serves as Professor of Biomedical Computation and Chair of the Department of Bioengineering. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and has served as President of the International Society for Computational Biology. His extensive publications have helped to establish the field of “personalized medicine,” which includes prescribing drugs and other individualized approaches such as guiding surgical decisions. He is a past recipient of the Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching at Stanford Medical School.
Tickets may be obtained at Darvill’s Bookstore and the Orcas Library at no cost. Donations at the door will be accepted to ensure the continuation of the series.
