The VII International Cardiovascular Genomic Medicine (ICVGM) Conference was held in York on 4-5 December 2019. The theme of the conference was left open to address rapid transformation of clinical cardiology practice in light of genomic advances in diagnosis and management of inherited cardiovascular conditions. The International Scientific Committee include Professor Dhavendra Kumar (Cardiff, UK)- Chair; Professor Perry Elliott (London, UK); Professor Bill Newman (Manchester, UK); Professor Elijah Behr (London, UK); Professor Arthur Wilde (Amsterdam, NL); Professor Bart Loeys (Antwerp, Belgium); Professor Robert Hamilton (Toronto, Canada); Professor Ajay Bahl (Chandigarh, India); Dr. Lorenzo Monserrat (La Coruna, Spain) and Professor Ingrid Winship (Melbourne, Australia). This event was approved for 12 hours (External Clinical) continuous professional development (CPD) by the Royal College of Physicians, London, UK on behalf of the UK Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians.
This biennial convention was highly successful with around 200 participants from all over the World. Over two days, 36 platform presentations were delivered. In addition, 30 poster presentations were also made. The quality and content of all presentations were superb with most up to date and cutting edge scientific information shared in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The feedback has been very positive and continues to arrive every moment.
The highlight of this conference was the Inaugural Sir William Harvey Oration delivered by Professor William McKenna, an internationally renowned pioneer in the field of Cardiovascular Genomic Medicine. Other key note speakers include Professor Sir Munir Primohamed, Director of MRC Pharmacogenetics Centre in Liverpool, UK; Professor Seema Mital, Director of Paediatric Cardiology Genomics at the Hospital for Sick Kids, Toronto, Canada and Professor Perry Elliott, Director of Cardiovascular Research Centre at the University College, London, UK.
The event provided opportunity for key people to engage and initiate net working for developing the Global Familial Heart Challenge (GFHC), one of the projects led by the Human Variome Project. Informal discussions between the Genomic Medicine Foundation (UK), the founder and host of the project and the Indian and Egyptian teams were very positive. The project is in its infancy, however following projects and initiatives provide foundation for GFHC. Current main activities include the biennial cardiovascular genomic medicine conference led by the Genomic Medicine Foundation UK, active liaison with the British Heart Foundation UK, the Indian database for inherited cardiovascular diseases funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Department of Science & Technology and the Egyptian Collaborative Cardiac Genomics (ECCO-GEN) led by the Sir Magdi Yaqub Foundation at the Aswan Heart Hospital, Egypt.
Full conference pack can be accessed through the web link-https://www.genomicmedicine.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Genomic-Medicine-Conference-Pack-2019-compressed-1.pdf
Details on this event and GFHC are available on www.genomicmedicine.org
The next ICVGM is scheduled in 2021, in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. Please register your interest (genomicmedicine@yahoo.co.uk or d.kumar@qmul.ac.uk). Suggestions for the conference theme, topics and speakers etc. are welcome.