Turning the promise of individualized drug therapy into real treatment choices
for patients is the topic of a two-day conference sponsored by the UNC
School of Pharmacy's Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized
Therapy (IPIT).

"Transforming individualized drug therapy from promise to reality requires
the concerted involvement of patients, clinicians, regulators, industry and legislators to drive the required changes," said IPIT director Howard McLeod, PharmD. "We expect the conference will help advance the progress of
genomic therapy by engaging the key stakeholders involved in this important aspect of patient care."

Confirmed speakers and their topics include:

Dora Hughes, MD, DPH
Legislative Assistant, Sen. Barack Obama
"Role of Federal Legislation in Personalized Medicine"

Janet Woodcock, MD
Deputy Commissioner and Chief Medical Officer
Food and Drug Administration
"FDA Critical Path Initiative and Individualized Therapy"

Nadine Cohen, PhD
Head of Pharmacogenomics and Senior Research Fellow
Johnson & Johnson
"Individualized Therapy: Obstacle or Godsend for the Development of New Drugs"

Lynn Dressler, PhD
Case Western Reserve University
"ELSI as a Facilitative Science for Individualized Therapy"

Lawrence J. Lesko, PhD
Office Director of Clinical Pharmacology
Food and Drug Administration
"Individualized Therapy and FDA"

Howard L. McLeod, PharmD, Director
UNC Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy
"Medical irony: Individualized therapy needs team science"

Sharon F. Terry, MA
President and CEO
Genetic Alliance
"Individualized Therapy: Consider the Patient"

David Flockhart, MD, PhD
Division of Clinical Pharmacology
Indiana University
"The Role of Academic Medicine in the Individualized Therapy Agenda"

James P. Evans, MD, PhD
Director, Adult Genetics
University of North Carolina
"Applying Lessons Learned from Medical Genetics to Pharmacogenomics"

Continuing education credits are available.  Registration details are available at www.ipit.unc.edu.