This proposal is a request for partial financial support for a conference on PHARMACOGENOMICS to be held November 18-21, 2004 at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. This represents the second in a series of annual conferences on this topic, following the success of the first Joint Cold Spring Harbor/Wellcome Trust conference held in late September 2003 at the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus in Hinxton, United Kingdom, with plans for the meeting to be held alternately between these two locations on an annual basis. This conference will focus on the opportunities presented by the growing contribution of emerging genomic information and technologies to interdisciplinary approaches in the study of variable responses of humans to drugs and toxic agents, and how research may benefit the individual. The meeting will provide an in-depth focus on diverse areas including the biochemistry and physiology of drug action, uptake and metabolism, and how this is affected by genetics; the opportunities for discovery and design of new therapeutic agents; personalizing medicine; understanding and managing adverse drug reactions; the impact of academic and commercial initiatives; ethical, legal, regulatory and social consequences of genetics applied to medicines. The conference will bring together senior and junior investigators, postdoctoral and postgraduate researchers, medical, regulatory and ethical experts in a range of disciplines to share existing research and experience, and to explore the potential of working together in new international and interdisciplinary research areas for the benefit of individual patients. Co-chairs and a limited number of invited speakers will provide critical focus for the conference, while the remainder of the talks will be selected from the abstracts on the basis of scientific merit and relevance. This balance of talks allows the conference to feature presentations by leading scientists, to be responsive to exciting new developments, to encourage diverse participation and to recognize new investigators. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the meeting organizers will make particular efforts to encourage attendance and participation by women and minority scientists. The subsequent meetings (2006 and 2008) will follow a similar format and will include topics highly relevant to the current research at the time of the meeting.
