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Last updated:

 February 10, 2005

African Society of Human Genetics

Below is the web version of the meeting program posted before the meeting. You can see a copy of the actual printed program used during the meeting here ( pages 1 and 4, pages 2 and 3).

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AfSHG 2003 Annual Meeting

Day 1, Monday, December 8

Session 1

7.30 – 8.00  Registration and continental breakfast (registration will continue all through the conference).

8:00 – 8:10  Opening address by the Program Organizer. Charles N. Rotimi, PhD (Professor and Director, Genetic Epidemiology, National Human Genome Center, Howard University)

8:10 – 8:20  Welcome and Opening Address. Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa, MBCh.B, DCP, MRCPath, FRCPath, DipRPath, FWACP (Director General, Ghana Health Service), on behalf of the Government and people of Ghana

8.20 – 9.00  Keynote Speaker: Genomic science and human evolutionary history: Understanding the role of Africa. Shomarka Omar Keita, MD, DPhil

9.00 – 9:15  Discussion

9.15 – 9:25  Coffee Break

Session 2

9:25 – 10.05 Impact of the human genome project on the future of higher education in Africa. Clement Adebamowo, MD (Prof of Surgery, Division of Oncology, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria; Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA)

10.05 – 10.20 Discussion

10:20 – 11:00 Genomic Variation in the African Diaspora: Implication for understanding differential distribution of diseases. Georgia M. Dunston, PhD (Professor and Founding Director, National Human Genome Center, Howard University)

11:00 – 11:15  Discussion

11:15 – 11:55  Bio-banking in Africa: The Gambia National DNA Collections. Giorgio Sirugo, MD, PhD (Head, Laboratory of Human Genetics MRC, The Gambia)

11:55 – 12:10  Discussion

12:10 – 2:00    Group Lunch

Session 3

2.00 – 2:40 Ethical Challenges in Genomic and Genetic Research in Africa: Implications for Informed Consent and IRB Protocol Review. Patricia A. Marshall, PhD (Associate Professor, Department of Bioethics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine).

2.40 – 2:55  Discussion

2.55 – 3:35 Ethics in the curriculum of biomedical and related programs in Africa: Past, present and future. Olayemi Omotade, MD (Professor of Pediatrics and Child Health, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria; Dr. Omotade also has a Master's degree in Bioethics from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio)

3.35 – 3:50  Discussion

3.50 – 4:00  Coffee Break

4.00 – 4.40 Bioinformatics: what is on the ground in Africa and where do we go from here?  Winston Hide, PhD (Director, South African National Bioinformatics Institute, University of the Western Cape. http://www.sanbi.ac.za/People.html).

4.40 – 4.55  Discussion

4.55 – 5.30  Summary and Program announcements

Day 2, Tuesday, December 9

Session 4

8:00 – 8:30  Registration continues (Continent Breakfast)

8:30 – 9:00 Genomics and genetics of infectious diseases.  Melanie Newport, PhD (Wellcome Trust Research Fellow and Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge)

9..00 – 9.15  Discussion

9.15 – 9.45 The African Diaspora: An opportunity to study gene-environment interaction. Charles Rotimi, PhD (Professor and Director, Genetic Epidemiology, National Human Genome Center, Howard University)

9.45 – 10.00 Discussion

10.00 – 10:20  Coffee Break

10.20 – 10:50 Genomic science and cardiovascular disease research in Africa and the Diaspora. Scott Williams, PhD

10.50 – 11.05  Discussion

11.05 – 11:45 Genomic science and cancer disease research in Africa and the Diaspora. Raj S. Ramesar, PhD (Prof and Chair of Human Genetics; Director of National Colorectal Cancer Research Consortium)

11.45 – 12.00 Discussion

12:00 – 1:30  Lunch

Session 5

1:30 – 2:30 Setting an agenda for genomic research in Africa (Group discussions). Moderators: Charles Rotimi, PhD, Lawrence Agodoa, MD and Adebowale Adeyemo, MD

2.30 – 3.00  Coffee Break

3:00 – 4:00 Planning the next workshop/conference. Moderators: Winston Hide, PhD, Clement Adebamowo, MD and Melanie Newport, PhD

4.00 – 4.15 Break

4.15 – 5.15 Press release, Elections, Monograph and Newsletter

7:00 – 9:00 Dinner

List of Moderators: 

Charles Rotimi, PhD

Adebowale Adeyemo, MD

Scott Williams, PhD

Muntaser Ibrahim, PhD

Albert Amoah, MD, PhD

Lawrence Agodoa, MD

Melanie Newport, PhD

Winston Hide, PhD

Charmaine Royal, PhD