Society Symposium 'Individualised medicine', Annual General Meeting & Presidential Address

1.30 pm

Registration and Coffee

2.00 pm
Gene Therapy of Rare Diseases: Current Status and Future Prospect
Professor Robert Wynn, Consultant Paediatric Haematologist / Bone Marrow Transplant; Honorary Professor of Clinical Paediatric Haematology and Cell Therapies, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital

2.35pm
The Manchester Rare Conditions Centre in the Era of Personalised Medicine
Professor Siddharth Banka, Consultant Geneticist, St. Mary's Hospital

Talk synopsis: 

Diagnosing, understanding, managing, and treating Rare Conditions (RCs) remains challenging. People living with RCs often require a lifetime of complex care that can profoundly impact education, financial stability, and physical and mental health. To address these unmet needs and benefit from the extraordinary regional infrastructure and expertise across the life course, the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and partners established the Manchester Rare Conditions Centre (MRCC) in 2021 as a virtual platform with a mission to improve the lives of individuals and families living with RCs. Since its formation the MRCC has evolved into an effective platform to link and coordinate RCs-related work in the region, break silos, facilitate cross-institutional, cross-disciplinary, cross-theme connections, and to enable the sharing of best practices. It is positioned to improve the lives of those affected by RCs by anticipating shifts in policies, scoping new opportunities, and undertaking advanced planning to develop new large-scale, high-impact projects and programmes. The work of the MRCC is enhancing efficiency, preserving, and enhancing the legacy of partners, and developing institutional memory for specialist tasks. In this talk I will focus on the '4 Ps' of rare conditions related Personalised Medicine work happening in Manchester - Prediction and Prevention of disease; Precise diagnoses; Personalised and targeted interventions;  and a Participatory role for patients. 

Learning objectives:

• Understanding the unmet needs of patients with rare conditions
• Structure and function of the Manchester Rare Conditions Centre
• Role of precision medicine in rare conditions

3.10pm
Break

3.40 pm
Genomics and precision medicine
Professor Dame Sue Hill, Chief Scientific Officer for England

Professor Dame Sue Hill DBE FMedSci FRSB FRCP(Hon) FRCPath (Hon) FHCS (Hon) is the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) for England and a respiratory scientist by background.

Throughout her career she has led on large-scale priority programmes across government and in NHS England including as the senior responsible officer for Genomics in the NHS, introducing a world-leading and nationwide Genomic Medicine Service, building on her work in heading up the NHS contribution to the 100,000 Genomes Project.

She has also played a pivotal role in the national COVID-19 programme leading the development and deployment of testing technologies into use for the UK population and co-directing the whole-genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 programme.

4.15pm
Advances in cystic fibrosis management
Dr Anna Shawcross, Consultant in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Manchester

Learning objectives:

• An understanding of the state of current cystic fibrosis (CF) clinical care including diagnosis via newborn screening, medical management of CF and current prognosis into adulthood
• An introduction to CFTR modulator drugs, including mode of action and clinical effects
• The challenges of diagnosis CF and CFTR-related disorders.

4.50pm
Coffee

5.20 pm 
Annual General Meeting followed by the Presidential Address of Dr Ruth Gottstein, Consultant Neonatologist, Manchester University NHS FT
"Individualised medicine leading to advances in neonatal care"

6.10 pm
Close