The Festival of Genetics and Personalized Medicine

Abstract

Implementation of personalized medicine in the clinic is a lengthy and multifaceted approach that is also dependent on the raising of the general public’s awareness of genomics. The Festival of Genetics and Personalized Medicine aims to familiarize the general public with the principles and applications of genetics and personalized medicine using numerous approaches – namely, a theatrical performance; a roundtable discussion of emerging topics in the field, such as pharmacogenomics, clinical genetics, bioinformatics, bioethics and health economics; the ‘Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code’ exhibition, with its do-it-yourself format; and a live demonstration of 2MoBiL, a portable molecular biology laboratory. This festival attracted more than 900 participants and helped disseminate to a broader audience the principles of genetics and personalized medicine.

Keywords::

• festival
• general public
• genomics awareness
• personalized medicine
• pharmacogenomics

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all 24 volunteers of the first Festival of Genetics and Personalized Medicine – especially D Tarousi and S Siamoglou for supervising the theatrical performance and 2MoBiL demonstration, respectively – for their valuable contribution and the over 900 participants who made this event a success.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This event was supported by the Ubiquitous Pharmacogenomics project (H2020-668353) as part of its dissemination and outreach activities. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This event was supported by the Ubiquitous Pharmacogenomics project (H2020-668353) as part of its dissemination and outreach activities. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.