Page 175 - Genomic Medicine in Emerging Economies

164 CHAPTER 9: Raising Genomics Awareness

Table 9.1 Past Golden Helix Symposia
A/A Year Date City Country
1 2008 November 28–29 Athens Greece
2 2009 October 15–17 Athens Greece
3 2010 December 1–4 Athens Greece
4 2012 April 18–21 Turin Italy
5 2013 November 17–19 Dubai United Arab Emirates
6 2014 October 30–November 1 Belgrade Serbia
7 2015 March 11–13 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
8 2016 January 14–16 Mansoura Egypt
9 2017 April 27–29 Athens Greece

beautiful surroundings and rich history. In these symposia, scientific excellence
is ensured, as important collaborations are formed, careers are enhanced, and
new scientific data are presented.
Previous Golden Helix Symposia have focused on copy number varia-
tion and genomic alterations in health and disease (Athens, Greece, 2008
[Le Caignec and Redon, 2009; Patrinos and Petersen, 2009]), pharmacoge-
nomics (Athens, Greece, 2009 [Patrinos and Innocenti, 2010]; Kuala Lumpur
2015), genomic medicine (Athens, Greece, 2010 [Patrinos et al., 2011]; Turin,
Italy, 2012 [Kricka and Di Resta, 2013]; Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2013
[Fortina et al., 2014]), genomics of rare diseases (Belgrade, Serbia, 2014),
and of neurodegenerative disorders (Mansoura, Egypt, 2016). Also, the 2017
Golden Helix Symposium has been jointly organized with the third Global
Genomic Medicine Collaborative Conference in Athens, Greece, focusing on
the implementation of genomic medicine in the clinic (Table 9.1).
In several cases, the Golden Helix Foundation provided fellowships to under-
graduate and postgraduate students from low- to medium-income countries to
defray registration, and often, accommodation and travel costs.

Golden Helix Pharmacogenomics Days
The Golden Helix Foundation has also organized, since early 2009, the Golden
Helix Pharmacogenomics Days, an international educational event series orga-
nized in major cities with large academic hospitals. The aim of this event is to
provide timely updates on the field of pharmacogenomics to local biomedi-
cal scientists and health care providers, to inform them on the application
of pharmacogenomics in modern medical practice, and to bring together fac-
ulty members from universities and research institutes from the local scientific
arena working in the field of pharmacogenomics in order to initiate collabora-
tive projects in this field for the benefit of society. Contrary to the Golden Helix
Symposia, the Golden Helix Pharmacogenomics Days have a more educational
flavor, span between half day to a full day in length, and attract, on average,