A program to ensure that powerful new genomic medicine technologies are available to all Australians is now recruiting participants from diverse communities, the SXSW Sydney conference will hear.
Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) Professor Daniel MacArthur, also Director of the Centre for Population Genomics, will be part of a SXSW Sydney panel today on The Genomic Transformation of Medicine, alongside Dr Clare Bycroft from Google DeepMind and MCRI Professor Enzo Porrello.
Chaired by child health advocate Sarah Murdoch, the panel discussed how advances in genomics, data science, and therapeutics are transforming the practice of medicine by using genetic information to guide the diagnosis, prediction and treatment of disease. Such advances have already dramatically improved how we diagnose severe genetic diseases like muscular dystrophy and treat cancer.
The Centre for Population Genomics, a joint initiative of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and MCRI, seeks to ensure that everyone can benefit from these advances.
Australia's population is extremely diverse, with over a quarter of Australians born overseas, and more than half having at least one parent born overseas. However, existing genomics resources, which are critical for making sense of genetic information, are missing many of Australia's diverse communities. This means life-changing genomic discoveries may not reach those communities, increasing existing inequity in health outcomes.
"For genomic medicine to be effective for everyone, we need to ensure that all Australians are represented in genomics research," Professor MacArthur said. His team at the Centre for Population Genomics is leading a new program, OurDNA, to address this challenge.
Image: Professor Daniel MacArthur
"Australia is home to one of the most diverse populations in the world, yet the representation of many Australian communities in global genetic research has been shockingly low," he said. By changing this, the OurDNA program has the potential to transform the way we diagnose and treat rare diseases for everyone."
The team behind OurDNA partners with community leaders and stakeholders to engage under-represented communities in the program. The initiative will collect genetic data from over 10,000 Australians from diverse backgrounds. The goal is to build a resource that supports better disease prediction, diagnostic tools and treatments, especially for people from under-represented groups.
Professor MacArthur and his team are inviting communities in Sydney and Melbourne to participate in the program by giving a blood sample. The program is already recruiting people of Filipino and Vietnamese ancestry and will ultimately work across Australia to increase representation for communities of Indigenous, Pacific, South-East Asian, Middle Eastern, and African ancestry.
"This is an opportunity to reshape the future of health for generations to come. Together, we can create a genetic resource that benefits every Australian," Professor MacArthur said.
Ms Murdoch said; "I feel incredibly fortunate to have been part of MCRI for over two decades. The passion and brilliance of our researchers never ceases to amaze me, and it's truly inspiring to witness their work transforming child health globally. I feel so privileged to have seen first-hand the incredible advances in genomic technologies and the power it gives to improve the lives of children affected by severe diseases."
