John Quackenbush, Ph.D., a nationally renowned expert on genomics, was the guest speaker at a cardiac research symposium sponsored by The Valley Hospital. His presentation, "The World of Genomics: What Does it Mean for Medicine?" was well-attended by physicians, clinical trial staff, nursing staff and adminstrators.

Genomics refers to the study of all the genes in a person or organism, as well as the interactions of those genes with each other and with the environment. Investigating gene expression may identify mechanisms underlying a range of human diseases, including heart disease and cancer.

Dr. Quackenbush is professor of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Harvard School of Public Health. Until early 2005 he was an investigator at The Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, MD.