Advisory Council GoldenHelix Symposia

International Scientific Advisory Council

Wilhelm J. Ansorge (Lausanne, CH), Professor and advisor for EPFL and EMBO member with pioneer work in the field of DNA sequencing.

Stylianos E. Antonarakis (Geneva, CH), Professor in the University of Geneva medical schoold, a world renown geneticist with reputation in the field of human molecular genetics. Achievements include work in hemoglobinopathies and autism, being a key figure in the sequencing effort of chromosome 21.

Nancy Cox (Chicago, IL, USA), received her B.S. in biology from the University of Notre Dame, 1978 and her Ph.D. in Human Genetics from Yale University, 1982. She currently serves as Professor and Section Chief, in the section of Genetic Medicine of the University of Chicago Medical School. She is a member of the Computational Institute and a member of the Committees on Genetics, Molecular Medicine and Cancer Biology.

Norman Delanty (Dublin, IRL), Consultant Neurologist and Director of the Epilepsy Service and National Epilepsy Surgery Programme at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin. He is also Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). He is a Principal Investigator on a Pharmacogenomics of Epilepsy project, funded by the Programme for Human Genomics, RCSI via the Higher Education Authority of Ireland.

Beverly Emanuel (Philadelphia, PA, USA), Chief at the Division of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology and the Charles E. Upham Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylania School of Medicine. 

Paolo Fortina (Philadelphia, PA, USA), Professor at Thomas Jefferson University with long contribution in the field of technology for genetic analysis.

Federico Innocenti (Chicago, IL, USA), Professor at the University of Chicago with involvement in pharmacogenomics of irinotecan treatment, personalized medicine and genome-wide association studies.

Panagoula Kollia (Athens, GR), Professor at the University of Athens with research interests pertaining to human genomics.

Adrian Llerena (Extremadura, ES), Professor at the Univeristy of Extremadura and Spain's representative at the European Medicine Agency Pharmacogenomics Working Party. Professor Llerena research interests involve clinical pharmacology and pharmacogenomics of psychiatric diseases, while he has also set up the IberoAmerican network of Pharmacogenomics.

George P. Patrinos (Patras, GR), Assistant Professor at the University of Patras and adjunct professor at Erasmus University Medical Center (Rotterdam, the Netherlands), co-founder of the Golden Helix Institute of Biomedical Research, whose research interest involve establishment and evolution of the National Genetic database field, human genomics and pharmacogemonics for oncology, hemoglobinopathies and neuropsychiatric diseases. George Patrinos is also National representative at the European Medicine Agency Pharmacogenomics Working Party.

Graham Taylor (Leeds, UK), Graham Taylor completed a PhD in Virology at Surrey University, following an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Warwick University. He subsequently returned to Warwick for 1 year’s postdoctoral work with Professor SB (Sandy) Primrose, then a 5 year MRC postdoctoral fellowship at the MRC Clinical Research Centre working gene expression in neuropsychiatric disease. In 1988 he joined the NHS at the University Department of Haematology in Manchester and developed a PCR method to detect HIV infection in haemophilia. He then moved to the Regional Genetics Service in Leeds where he established a molecular genetics service. In this setting he developed and published the first use of microsatellites for genetic diagnosis, the first report of genetic diagnosis from foetal necropsy material, the first use of automated fluorescent fragment analysis for genetic diagnosis and numerous other initiatives in the area of molecular genetics and pathology. At this time he led the pilot project and is current member of steering group for UK diagnostic mutation database DMuDB. This is the world’s first and only mutation database populated by variants identified under robust diagnostic conditions. Ron van Schaik (Rotterdam, NL), Associate Professor at Erasmus University Medical Center with research interests pertaining to pharmacogenomics of tamoxifen treatment.