Wolfgang Sadee

Pharmacogenomics plays an increasing role in disease prevention, and therapy.Whilesubstantial adverse reactions andinsufficient efficacy continue to limit significantly the benefits of drug therapy, an understanding of the underlying causes of varying drug response has the potential to improve outcomes substantially.Much evidence supports the hypothesis that genetic factors play a critical role in determining treatment outcomes.Numerous pharmacogenetic studies have revealed genetic variants thatcan serve as clinical biomarkers guiding therapy;yet, predictive value often remains uncertain, and implementation in clinical practice is slow - in part because the genetics of drug response, or of any complex phenotype, remains poorly understood.Likely, multiple genes and their interactions contribute to any complex phenotype, but most current pharmacogenetic markers fail to consider the combined actions of more than 1 or 2 genes.To develop genetic markers with compelling clinical utility, broad genomics approaches are needed.Stunning advances in biomedical technologies, ultra-rapid DNA sequencing among them, reveal ever more details of human genomics, including the epigenome - the latter reflecting dynamic influence exerted by the environment. This presentation will assess strategies for developing clinically useful biomarker panels that require an understanding of dynamic gene-gene-environment interactions.