The HBS Club of Ottawa is very pleased to invite you and your partner to attend the first-ever Harvard Business School-MIT Clubs joint event on November 21, 2007 by Dr. Robert Roberts titled Glimpse of Medicine in the Future. As you can see from his bio in the attached invitation, Dr. Roberts is an internationally renowned cardiologist and molecular geneticist, currently the CEO and Scientific Director of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Dr. Roberts has received numerous international awards related to his research in the application of the techniques of molecular biology and recombinant DNA to cardiovascular disorders. He has identified several genes responsible for familial cardiomyopathies, atrial fibrillation, and WPW syndrome. Employing human mutant and wild type genes, he generated genetic animal models and elucidated the pathophysiology of several of these disorders. Utilizing these models of human disease has discovered several therapies that reverse the phenotype of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy about to be tested in a clinical trial. Dr. Roberts founded The Ruddy Canadian Cardiovascular Genetics Centre and as its Director, is pursuing genome-wide association studies to identify genes for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). This year, he co-authored a publication in Science, which located the first common gene for CAD.
About medicine in the future, Dr. Roberts writes:
"The complete sequencing of the human genome in 2003 represents a momentous occasion that some have referred to as equivalent to the Apollo Project or the Manhattan Project. I would compare it with the 6th Century B.C. or the industrial revolution. One can expect within the next 5 to 10 years all of the genes will be identified and those responsible for predisposition to disease will be available on a chip to start a new era in the world of personalized medicine. Twenty diseases are responsible for 80% of all deaths in the world. Heart disease, cancer and stroke account for 67% of all of these deaths. All diseases have a genetic predisposition that interacts with the environment to determine when and if you will develop the disease. Heart disease is felt to be about 50 to 70% genetic and the remainder due to environmental risk factors. It is predicted and expected that heart disease will be eliminated in this century and the Cancer Society of America expects cancer to be eliminated as a cause of death by 2015. Human beings without disease or injury would be expected to live to about 180 to 200 years. The genes for longevity are beginning to be identified and recently a human gene catalase injected into the mouse prolonged the life of the mouse by about 20%. The longest living mammals (human is a mammal) are certain whales and deep sea turtles. The deep sea turtle has a average life span of about 150 years and the whale 180 years. The life span of humans has doubled in the past century and is expected to double again in this century to 160 years."
If you also wish to meet for an optional buffet-style dinner prior to the presentation, you are most welcome to join us at The Green Door Restaurant, 198 Main Street at 4:30 pm. The restaurant is just across the street from St-Paul University.
Fee for Dr. Roberts Lecture: $10 payable in cash, at the entrance, St Paul University.
Optional: Buffet-style meal, $10 to $20 range, pay by weight directly to the Green Door Restaurant
Register by contacting Dorothy Vaughan to confirm your attendance, as soon as possible, no later than November 14 by email to dvaughan@cpcstrans.com or by phoning (613) 237-2500, extension 308. Please indicate whether you will attend Dr. Roberts lecture only or the dinner as well to reserve sufficient space for everyone. A firm count of participants is required prior to the event. Please register early as it is expected that this important event will be sold out very quickly.
