UK Genomics Symposium with ASEAN Partners 2022

Professor Brown is an internationally renowned clinician-scientist, and is currently Professor of Medicine at King’s College London, as well as Director of the NIHR Guy’s and St Thomas’ Biomedical Research Centre.

He has a deep background in genomics, and has previously been Director of Genomics and Distinguished Professor at the Queensland University of Technology. His work there also involved sensitive engagement with indigenous communities on healthcare research and genomics.

Professor Brown trained as a clinician-scientist and a rheumatologist, and has made contributions to the development of gene-mapping approaches in human diseases and genome-wide association study (GWAS) methodology, leading to the discovery of thousands of genetic variants, with a particular interest in ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.

In the genetics of rare human diseases, he has identified genes responsible for monogenic forms of arthritis, ectopic bone development, and skeletal dysplasias. He established and directed one of Australia’s largest cancer personalised medicine genomics services, the Australian Translational Genomics Centre, in Brisbane.

Sir John became Chairman of the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on 1 December 2017. He obtained a first class honours degree in Human Genetics and an MD with distinction from Newcastle University, where he has been Professor of Clinical Genetics since 1991. He was appointed as a consultant specialist in Newcastle in 1984 and led the regional NHS Genetics Service for 20 years. As well as helping to create the Centre for Life, which houses an education and science centre alongside the Institute of Genetic Medicine, Sir John is Vice Chair for the Newcastle based DNA device company, QuantuMDx Ltd. He is a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians (London and Edinburgh), Paediatrics and Child Health, Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

He was knighted in 2010 and chosen as one of the first 20 ‘local heroes’ to have a brass plaque on Newcastle Quayside in 2014. He also received the Living North award in 2015 for services to the North East and is Treasurer and Co-Director of the international organisation, Global Variome, which seeks to share knowledge of genetic variation for clinical benefit.

Previous roles include President of the European Society of Human Genetics, Lead Clinician of the Northern Strategic Authority and Non Executive Director at NHS England

Jon Lambe became UK Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 28 November 2019. He is the first dedicated UK Ambassador to ASEAN and opened the UK Mission to ASEAN at the time of his appointment.

Jon joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 2010. He most recently served in London, leading work on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, including the UK approach to North Korea and to the Iran nuclear deal. From 2014 to 2016 he was Deputy Ambassador and Political Counsellor at the British Embassy in Kinshasa, leading work on governance and peacekeeping. From 2010 to 2014 he was First Secretary, Energy, Climate Change and Development at the British Embassy in Paris.

Before joining the FCO, Jon worked from 2005 to 2010 in the Department for Education, focussing on improving school performance. From 2004 to 2005 he worked at HM Revenue and Customs, including on innovative uses of fiscal policy for social change.

Jon has a BSc in Mathematics from Imperial College, London and a MSc in Finance and Economic Policy from the University of London.

Jon is married and has two children. Outside work he enjoys spending as much time as he can in the mountains or the ocean.

Niranjan Nagarajan is an Associate Director and a Senior Group Leader at A*STAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), and an Associate Professor at the Department of Medicine and Department of Computer Science at the National University of Singapore. His research focuses on developing cutting edge genome analytic tools and using them to study the role of microbial communities in human health. Nagarajan received a BA degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Ohio Wesleyan University in 2000, and a PhD degree in Computer Science from Cornell University in 2006. He carried out his postdoctoral research in the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of Maryland, working on problems in genome assembly and metagenomics.

Dr. Cynthia Palmes-Saloma is the Executive Director of the Philippine Genome Center (PGC). Dr. Saloma was the project leader behind the establishment of the DNA Sequencing Core Facility (DSCF) of PGC making her one of the pioneers of the executive committee. The youngest among the four (4) founding ‘mothers/marias’ of PGC, Dr. Saloma joined Dr. Amelia P. Guevara, Dr. Gisela P. Concepcion and Dr. Carmencita D. Padilla in brainstorming, formulating strategies, inspecting international genome institutes in order to create and establish the Philippine Genome Center in 2009. Since then she has served as PGC’s program director for DSCF until August 2016.

She finished her bachelor of science degree in Fisheries from the University of Philippines Visayas with a magna cum laude honors in 1987. Afterwards she took a bachelor of science degree in Molecular Biology in Nagoya University, Japan in 1993. Two years after she received her master’s degree in Medical Science from Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine. Then in 1998 Dr. Saloma got her doctor of science in physiology from Osaka University Graduate School of Science.

Concurrent to her PGC appointment, she is also a Professor 9 on her second term as director of the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (NIMBB) in UP Diliman. She is also the principal investigator and head of NIMBB’s Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory. Dr. Saloma is also the Chair of the UP Diliman Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. She is married to former UP Diliman Chancellor Caesar P. Saloma and they have two daughters, Cristina and Carmel.

Slavé’s background is in human genomics, population genetics, precision medicine and leading large-scale human genomics studies. He joined AstraZeneca in August 2017 and his role as Vice President and Head of Genome Analytics and Bioinformatics for AstraZeneca’s Centre for Genomics Research (CGR) involves leading the design and implementation of human genomic studies as part of AstraZeneca’s Genomics Initiative. His team applies human genetics to inform and drive novel target discovery, target validation, target safety, precision medicine and late-stage support.

Prior to this, he was a Senior Research Fellow and Group Leader in Computational Genomics within the Department of Medicine at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He was awarded a PhD in Bioinformatics and Biostatistics from the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne in 2011.

Over his career, he has made important contributions to human and population genomics, including key contributions to the science of target discovery and variant interpretation. He has also secured prestigious funding from numerous international organisations and regularly publish his work in highly regarded journals.

Dr Ravindran Thayan is a Molecular Virologist by training and is currently the Head of Virology Unit, Infectious Diseases Research Centre, IMR.

He is also the Director of WHO National Influenza Centre and the WHO National Polio Laboratory.

He has been with Virology Unit IMR since 1992 and has been involved in viral outbreak investigation including COVID-19, Polio virus and Measles in 2019, Rabies in 2018, Zika in 2016, Ebola, MERS-CoV and Avian influenza in 2014 and Pandemic Influenza H1N1 in 2009 among others.

He has published in several peer-reviewed scientific papers as well as presented in conferences as plenary speaker or scientific presentations.

He is also member of several expert panels including in MOH, IMR, and MOSTI.

Chairat Uthaipibull is currently the Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS), a public organization under the Ministry of Higher education, Science, Research, and Innovation of Thailand.

His role is to support and accelerate innovations in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical AI, genomics, cosmeceuticals and nutraceuticals to commercialization.

Before joining TCELS in early 2021, he was a research group director and principal researcher at Thailand’s National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, National Science and Technology Development Agency.

He obtained his Bachelor and Master degrees in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Osaka University, Japan, and his PhD in Parasitology and Immunology from University College London, U.K.

His main research focuses on the mechanism of drug resistance, and the discovery of novel drug target and the development of novel antimalarial drug.