PERSONAL GENOMES:
TECHNOLOGY, INTERPRETATION & CHALLENGES
October 9 - 12, 2008
Abstract Deadline: July 16, 2008

Organizers:
Richard Gibbs, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston
Mary-Claire King, University of Washington, Seattle
Maynard Olson, University of Washington, Seattle
Lincoln Stein, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Jan Witkowski, Banbury Center, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

We are pleased to host the a special meeting on Personal Genomes, which will begin with 7.30pm on Thursday, October 9, 2008 and run through lunch on Sunday, October 12.

The meeting is being held both to celebrate and to critically examine a significant milestone in human genetics-the first "personal genomes." These ultra high throughput sequencing strategies are used in a very limited number of laboratories and few scientists, and even fewer clinical geneticists, are familiar with the implications of the "$1000" genome. We believe that a meeting which reviews these topics will be very attractive to a range of scientists including biologists, geneticists, and biomedical researchers.

Tentative Topics:
Opening session: ‘Setting the Tone’

Session I: Technical Status of Sequencing Whole Genomes
Successes; problems; new developments; new things on the way

Session II: Making Sense of the Content of Whole Genomes
Analysis of variation; large scale structure of the genome; human genome evolution

Evening: Panel Discussion - Ethics

Session III Whole Genome Genetics
What are we learning about human genetics from genome scale studies?

Session IV: Applications of Whole Genome Studies
How are genome scale studies providing new insights on clinical genetics?

Session V: Preparing for the ‘Whole Genome’ World
What happens when everyone has their genome sequenced?

Speakers:
Richard Durbin, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK
Marc Feldman, Stanford University
Paul Flicek, EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute, UK
Yang Huanming, Beijing Genomics Institute, China
Jim Lupski, Baylor College of Medicine
Elaine Mardis, Washington University School of Medicine
Gabor Marth, Boston College
Len Pennacchio, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
J. Craig Venter, Center for the Advancement of Genomics
Stephen Warren, Emory University School of Medicine
James D. Watson, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Abstracts should contain only new and unpublished material and are welcome for consideration as poster presentations (a small number may be selected as talks) and must be submitted electronically by the abstract deadline. Selection of material for poster and oral presentation will be made by the organizers. Status (talk/poster) of abstracts will be posted on our web site as soon as decisions have been made by the organizers.

We are eager to have as many young people as possible attend since they are likely to benefit most from this meeting. We have applied for funds from government and industry to partially support graduate students and postdocs. Apply in writing to meetings@cshl.edu stating need for financial support - preference is given to those submitting abstracts.

We look forward to seeing you at Cold Spring Harbor in October.

This conference is supported in part by funds provided by: XXX

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Regular packages are all inclusive and cover registration, food, housing, parking, wine-and-cheese party, lobster banquet, etc. No Housing packages include all costs except housing. Full payment is due 4 weeks prior to the meeting.