Speaker Profile
M.D., Dr.Med., CEO of deCODE Genetics
Biography
Kári Stefánsson, M.D., Dr. Med. founded deCODE in 1996. Dr. Stefánsson was a professor of Neurology, Neuropathology and Neuroscience at Harvard University and Director of Neuropathology at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts from 1993-1997. From 1983 to 1993, he held faculty positions in Neurology, Neuropathology and Neurosciences at the University of Chicago. Dr. Stefánsson received his M.D. and Dr. Med. from the University of Iceland and is board-certified in neurology and neuropathology in the United States. Dr. Stefansson is recognized as a leading figure in human genetics and the man who began an approach to population genetics that is being adopted all over the world. He has shaped deCODE’s scientific approach and been actively engaged in leading its work on human genetics. Dr. Stefánsson has received numerous awards for his work, including the Sackler Lecture at MIT (2009), the European Society of Human Genetics Award (2009), the Anders Jahre Award (2009), the American Alzheimer’s Association’s Inge Grundke-Iqbal Award (2014), and the Federation of European Biomedical Societies’ Sir Hans Krebs Medal (2016) and The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) has named Dr. Stefánsson the 2017 recipient of the annual William Allan Award. He has published more than 500 scientific papers.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2018 Silicon Valley
Session Synopsis: Building robust databases via which to analyze genomic data and making meaningful associations between genes and diseases will ultimately lead to new drug targets and the ability to help guide the development of new therapeutics. The different presenters in this session will illustrate various ways of new drug design that are based on recent technological advancements and genetic insights.
