The 2016 Golden Helix Summer School with the theme "Cancer Genomics and Individualized Therapy" was successfully organized at the Dolphin Bay Resort hotel in Syros island, Greece, 22-26 September 2016. The meeting was attended by 90 participants, guest speakers and company representatives from more than 20 countries worldwide, such as Greece and also the United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Ecuador, Korea, China, Slovenia, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, etc.
Guest speakers presented their work about emerging topics in the field of Cancer Genomics, such as cancer diagnostics using whole genome sequencing, pharmacogenomics and treatment individualization, economics in genomics, public health genomics, etc. Also, company representatives presented interesting lectures about Pharmacogenovigilance and liquid biopsies. The keynote lecture was delivered on Monday September 26th, 2016 by Professor Magnus Ingelman Sundberg (Karolinska Institute, Sweden) and member (since 2008) of the Nobel Assembly. Like the previous Summer School in 2014, the 2016 Golden Helix Summer School included a career development session, coordinated by Professor Jurgen Reinchardt (Ecuador), two interactive sessions (organized by Professors Alessio Squassina and George Patrinos) and two workshops on in silico drug design and pharmacometabolomics (delivered by Dr Theodora Katsila and Minos Matsoukas).
Most importantly, the 2016 Golden Helix Summer School organized a special event specifically aimed for the general public, in line to the aims and goals of the Golden Helix Foundation to increase the general public genomics awareness. There was also a guided tour to Ermoupolis, where participants had the chance to admire the landmark buildings of Ermoupolis, such as the Town Hall, the Opera house and the neoclassic buildings, while the various social events, the farewell dinner with traditional dances from the Lyceum Club of Greek women and the recreational time in between the scientific sessions gave the opportunity to strengthen collaboration ties among the faculty members and to the Summer School participants to meet with the internationally renowned faculty, many of which arranged short term visits and trainings.
Overall, the 2016 Golden Helix Summer School was a success and according to the current planning, the 2018 Golden Helix Summer School will be organized again in Syros island in September 2018 with the theme revolving around Rare Diseases, Rare Cancers and Rare Drug Outcomes.
Please visit the 2016 Golden Helix Summer School website to access the photo gallery and downloads.