Keynote Lecture

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Sudden cardiac death: Can we use genetics to study it?

Use of genetics in the study of sudden cardiac death often occurs in individuals who seem healthy, but who silently carry one of the congenital conditions that can cause this affliction. There are hundreds of genes known to be associated with sudden cardiac death. Thanks to the recent development of tools for genetic diagnosis, great strides are being made in diagnosis and prevention.

Take the opportunity to learn about the latest findings in this field from one of the discoverers of the syndrome that bears his name – the Brugada Syndrome – a genetic disorder that causes sudden cardiac death.

Dr. Ramon Brugada is, among others, Professor of Medicine at University of Giorna, Head of Cardiology Department at Josep Trueta University Hospital and Director of Cardiovascular Genetics Center at Girona Biomedical Research Institute sudden cardiac death

Keynote Lecture

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Growing a family with dignity

For decades experts have focused narrowly on the challenge of making sure childbirth is safe. Yet we know that most pregnant people and their families have goals other than emerging from the process unscathed. Survival is the floor of what we deserve. If we’re working towards a better system we should be aiming for the ceiling: care that is not only safe, but also supportive and empowering. This talk will discuss the role of medical professionals in designing systems that ensure every person can choose to grow their family with dignity.

Dr. Neel Shah is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Harvard’s Ariadne Labs. He is listed among the “40 smartest people in health care” by the Becker’s Hospital Review, and has been profiled by the New York Times, CNN and Washington Post, among others.

Keynote Lecture

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Augmented reality in Neurosurgery

Augmented Reality (AR) has the potential to change surgical procedures. This technology, which can overlay “reality” with digital information, has been broadly implemented in cranial neurosurgery since the mid-’90s. The AR integrated in surgical microscopes has become more and more sophisticated over the years, with better 3-dimensional object representation, improved immersive display and by integrating various kinds of preoperative imaging data.

Dr Christopher Nimsky – Professor & Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Marburg, Germany – has a special interest in medical technologies in neurosurgery. His MEDICS talk will explore the most recent clinical applications of AR for various cranial and spinal procedures.

Keynote Lecture

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About Chomsky, patterns, non-codingRNAs and genomic immunity

Non-coding RNAs, like many large proteins, have a multi-domain architecture that organizes them spatially and functionally. The study of the structure-function relationship may permit exploitation of ncRNAs as new therapeutic targets in cancer and immune disorders. Dr. George Calin and his team  suggests that spectrums of “letters” (ncRNA elements) are assembled into “words” (ncRNA domains) that are further organized into “phrases” (complete ncRNA structures) with functional meaning (signaling output) through complex “sentences” (the ncRNAs interactor networks). The analogy with linguistics is not accidental- discover its meaning by attending this lecture!

Dr. George Calin, Professor in the Experimental Therapeutics and Leukemia Departments at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, was the first to discover the link between microRNAs and human cancers, a finding considered as a milestone in microRNA research history. His research focuses on the roles of microRNAs and other non-coding RNAs in cancer initiation and progression and in immune disorders, as well as the mechanisms of cancer predisposition linked to non-codingRNAs.