Industry and academic leaders discuss personalised healthcare and the role of Big Data and technologies

• Innovation Forum Lausanne organized fourth annual conference at EPF Lausanne
• The next generation of researchers, clinicians and entrepreneurs considered the challenges in modern medicine and the opportunities of personalised and digital healthcare

Innovation Forum Lausanne (IFL) held its fourth annual conference titled “Personalised Healthcare on 17 May: Big Data and Technologies for Tailored Therapies and Prevention”. Historically, the healthcare community has used a blanket approach for everyone suffering from the same disease around the world. However, in recent years new technologies and discoveries are enabling a more tailored and precise approach for the individual. By combining clinical knowledge, advanced diagnostic techniques and data analysis, patients can now receive more efficient and personalised treatment.

Over 400 participants heard from keynote speakers at leading companies and institutions, including Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), University of Geneva, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, SOPHiA GENETICS, Abionic, and SUN bioscience. This next generation of researchers, clinicians and entrepreneurs considered the different facets of personalised medicine, from genetics and lifestyles, to “big data” and digital health.

Didier Trono, EPFL Professor and Co-Director of Health 2030, commented: "New technologies stand to revolutionise health management, and we owe to our population to master their sophistication and exploit their potential in fully understood economic, legal and ethical frameworks."

Jean-Pierre Hubaux, EPFL Professor and C4DT Academic Director, noted: "Personalised health will generate and use huge amounts of intimate data about all of us. Maintaining trust in the system requires these data to be properly protected."

Nathalie Brandenberg, COO and Co-founder of SUN bioscience, said: "The first human genome was sequenced in 2003 and initiated the era and hope of personalised medicine. In 2018, we are now at a fraction of the cost and time of whole genome sequencing, but we still struggle to define accurate enough genetic biomarkers. The message I want to transmit in the “Personalised Healthcare Conference” is that it will require more than genetic data to understand treatment efficacies and discover the new biomarkers of the future."

Beatrice Volpe, President of Innovation Forum Lausanne, observed: "Making personalised healthcare accessible to everyone requires a collective and multidisciplinary effort. With its 4th Annual Conference, Innovation Forum Lausanne inspires the audience to think out of the box and contribute to the ongoing revolution of personalised medicine. Our outstanding speakers show the huge potential of scientific research, new technologies and innovation.”

Full details of the conference program and speakers can be found at:

http://lausanne.inno-forum.org/event/personalised-healthcare/

About Innovation Forum www.inno-forum.org