Maine Cancer Genomics Initiative Talk

Description

Learn more about the science behind genomic medicine and how it can shape treatments for cancer with members of The Jackson Laboratory’s Maine Cancer Genomics Initiative (MCGI) at the Jesup Memorial Library on Tuesday, July 24 at 7 p.m. as part of 2018 Primary Source Speaker Series: “You: A Novel Gene Story,” a collaborative program with JAX and the Jesup.

Three doctors from MCGI will talk about what the initiative is and how people can participate. Cancer patients enrolled will be tested for 358 gene variations in their genome. The results from these tests are run though Laboratory's Clinical Knowledgebase and results are returned to the physician in a report which aims to personalize cancer treatment on the basis of a patient’s unique genome. MCGI is a collaborative program of The Jackson Laboratory and the Harold Alfond Center for Cancer Care at MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta. The speakers for this event are Carol Bult, Ph.D., Professor and Knowlton Family Chair, Jens Reuter, M.D., Medical Director of MCGI, and Andrey Antov, Ph.D., MBA, Program Director of MCGI.

Dr. Bult is Deputy Director of the JAX Cancer Center and Scientific Director of the Laboratory’s Patient Derived Xenograft (PDX) and Cancer Avatar program. She is principal investigator of Mouse Genome Informatics, the international database resource for the laboratory mouse, providing integrated genetic, genomic and biological data to facilitate the study of human health and disease.

Dr. Reuter joined JAX in 2016 as the Medical Director of MCGI. Dr. Reuter came to JAX from Eastern Maine Medical Center Cancer Care in Brewer, where he was the medical director for EMMC’s Translational Oncology Program and the EMMC Biobank.

Dr. Antov is the Program Director for the MCGI. His healthcare professional experience includes basic research, medical device contracting and pharmaceuticals; he has held a number of different roles from administration to consulting. 

The next talk in the “You: A Novel Gene Story” series is on Tues., Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. with Dr. Vivek Kumar and Dr. Elissa Chesler from JAX who will be speaking about the genomics of addiction. For more information on any of the talks in the series visit jesuplibrary.org/primarysource or contact the Jesup at 207-288-4245 or mrice@jesuplibrary.org.