Myths and Realities of Personalised Medicine: The Genetic Revolution

Module One: We begin by discussing what causes disease and development of personal traits – our genes or our environment? We will also explore how genes are passed from one generation to the next, and basic medical genetics.

Module Two: We will discuss how recent technological and scientific advances have heralded the advent of the genetic revolution, and the global approach and impact of these advances.

Module Three: We will explore the concept of risk, and multifactorial disease. We will describe examples of genes that pre-dispose patients to specific diseases, and discuss genetic testing and genetic counselling.

Module Four: We will investigate the use of personalised medicine today, and tease out the reality from the hype. We will also explore the apparent delay between research findings and translation to the clinic (“bench to bedside”), and the reasons for this.

Module Five: We will describe the rationale of medical patents, clinical trials, drug approval and regulation, and how these differ in various parts of the world.

Module Six:  We will analyse and reflect on how research and drug developments in personalised medicine are presented in the media, and the effect this may have on patients, policy & society both locally and globally.

Module Seven:  We will explore and debate the legal, religious, cultural and societal issues surrounding personalised medicine.

Module Eight: We will integrate what we have learnt in modules 1-7 in order to understand the potential and pitfalls of personalised medicine in our own specific discipline and cultural circumstances.