International experts meet in Riga to promote precision medicine

The two-day event includes in-depth discussions aimed at developing international cooperation in the field of biomedicine, which would contribute to Latvia's economic transformation. Latvia is positioning itself as a country with a mission and a place to develop solutions to global challenges. Precision medicine is a new approach to the treatment and prevention of diseases that takes individuals’ genetic diversity, environment, and lifestyle into account. During the forum, leading experts will discuss the following topics with Latvian experts and representatives of patient organisations:

• cancer genetics and precision oncology,
• functional precision medicine,
• paediatric oncology,
• newborn screenings,
• pharmacogenetics,
• artificial intelligence and big data in precision medicine,
• patient involvement,
• integrating biomedical strategies into precision medicine and improving diagnostics,
• national genomics infrastructure in Scandinavia and the Baltics,
• supply of specialists in medicine in Latvia,
• using health data to advance precision medicine and clinical treatment.

Raimonds Lapiņš, Deputy State Secretary at the Ministry of Economics, said: 'With the support of the PMNET organising team and private entrepreneurs, the PMNET Forum has become one of the leading precision medicine forums in the region. Thanks to the ideas developed at the PMNET Forum in previous years, a number of key initiatives for Latvia's economic development have been successfully implemented -

Riga Stradiņš University (RSU), Riga Technical University and the University of Latvia are implementing the project "Development of high-level digital skills in high-performance computing in Latvia", which will create 12 new study modules in the field of high-performance computing.

This kind of cooperation between the three universities is an important step for scientific and economic development, as it combines each university's strengths to produce specialists in Latvia who will be able to meet the healthcare challenges of the future. Previous forums have also led to the creation of a human capital development strategy and the submission to the Parliament of the Law on Data Reuse, which aims to ensure the availability of data for scientific research."

RSU Vice-Rector for Research Agrita Kiopa points out that

The programme aims to develop a multidisciplinary approach, with medical students gaining skills in bioinformatics, genetics and imaging diagnostics.

RSU Vice-Rector for Science Agrita Kiopa speaks at the Precision Medicine Networking Forum 2023 on 12 October

The forum aims to achieve more effective, science-based treatment methods for children and adults and ensure access to health services (e.g., using the latest medical technologies). This requires collaboration between physicians, researchers, hospital management, patient organisations, healthcare institutions, government officials, health companies, global corporations, and the world's leading hospitals.

The forum is organised by Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU), the Children's Hospital Foundation, the Latvian Children's Oncology Foundation, the Children's Clinical University Hospital, the Ministry of Economics, the Ministry of Health, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, and patient organisations – the Latvian Alliance for Rare Diseases, the Latvian Association of Oncology Patient Organisations OncoAlliance, Alliance for Men's Health, and other organisations, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, the Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, the American Chamber of Commerce in Latvia, the University of Latvia, Riga Technical University, Riga East Clinical University Hospital, Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital. The forum is supported by Novartis, EUSA Pharma, Illumina and Roche.

For more information about the forum programme and speakers, please visit www.pmnetforum.com, as well as Facebook: PMNET - Precision Medicine Networking Forum and LinkedIn: Precision Medicine Networking Forum using hashtags #MissionLatvia #PMNETforum #PMNETforum2023 #PrecisionMedicineNetwork

The event is implemented in cooperation with the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 1.2.1. specific aid objective "To increase private sector investment in R&D", which is part of project 1.2.1.2 "Support for Technology Transfer System Improvement" (project identification No. 1.2.1.2/16/I/001).