Members of the public, NHS staff and patients had the chance to find out more about the Yorkshire and Humber NHS Genomic Medicine Centre’s ‘100,000 Genomes Project’ at a special event held at the Northern General Hospital Medical Education Centre on Monday 6 February.
Organised by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the ‘Making a Difference for Patients’ showcased how medical research makes a difference to NHS patients’ lives.
Representatives from the Yorkshire and Humber genome team included the education and training and patient and public involvement leads and a consenting genetic counsellor.
During the day the team ran an informative stand where attendees could ask questions and collect further information about the project.
Dr Gill Wilson, Programme Manager for the Yorkshire and Humber NHS Genomic Medicine Centre, delivered a keynote speech to an audience of over 50 where she explained how the sequencing of 100,000 Genomes could transform future care for patients with rare diseases and cancers.
Other key issues discussed included:
- The impact genomics will have across the whole of medicine and the fact that it is not just about genetics
- How genomics will bring service transformation across the whole NHS Key component of personalised medicine – the biggest change in medicine for a century
Julie Atkey, Education and Training lead for the Yorkshire and Humber NHS Genomic Medicine Centre, said: “We were pleased that there was a lot of interest at our stand. This was a great opportunity to raise awareness of the project and the benefits that it will bring to patients both now and in the future.”
Innovations in heart disease, advances in the treatment, diagnosis and prevention of devastatingly progressive illnesses such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease, stroke and multiple sclerosis were also showcased at the event.