21st Century Medicine: From Genes to Ginseng

The 8th Oxford Conference incorporating the 3rd OIBC Spring Symposium on 21st Century Medicine: From Genes to Ginseng took place on Tuesday 9 April 2002 at Magdalen College School, Oxford

and the

EC-sponsored Workshop on Developing Global Bioresources took place between
8th-12th April at Mansfield College, Oxford

The success of OIBC's Spring Symposia in 2000 (Genes and the Environment: the Nature vs Nurture Debate) and 2001 (World Health: Threats and Remedies) plus popular demand encouraged us to mount a symposium along similar lines in 2002.

The balance between orthodox and complementary (£15 billion spent annually in the UK alone) approaches is very much in the forefront of medical debatel.

A Conference Reception and Dinner was held at Mansfield College after the symposium. The Guest speaker was Sir Maurice Shock who gave a talk entitled:: A layman among doctors.

The workshop on Developing Global Bioresources took place on Wednesday 10 April and Thursday 11 April and was sponsored by the European Commission.

The aim of the workshop, under the Chairmanship of Dr Gerard Bodeker (Chair, Commonwealth Working Group on Traditional and Complementary Health Systems)3 was (1) to promote collaborative ventures between institutes in the developing and restructuring world active in research on traditional and complementary remedies, and commercial and academic institutions within the European Union (EU); a second aim was (2) to establish guidelines for the regulation of such activities. Some 2 billion euros (approximately US$ 1.8 billion) are likely to be available under "Genomics and Biotechnology for Health" in the Framework 6 Programme of the European Commission, due to commence in 2003. A representative from the European Commission was on hand to explain how to apply for funds.

Charles A Pasternak
Director of the Oxford International Biomedical Centre

Conference Programme

9.15 Opening of symposium: Maciej Nalecz (Director of Basic & Engineering Sciences, UNESCO and Director, the Nencki Institute, Warsaw)

Morning session:

9.20 Message from HRH The Prince of Wales

9.30 Sir David Weatherall (Regius Professor of Medicine, Oxford U): Exploiting genes to diagnose and treat common diseases

10.15 J Gordon McVie (Director General, Cancer Research UK): Genes involved in the progression of cancer

11.00 Coffee Break

11.30 David Thompson (Professor of Gastroeneterolgy, Manchester U): Mind over matter: the brain-gut axis

12.15 Eugene Paykel (Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Cambridge U): Calming the mind

1.00 Lunch

Afternoon session:

2.00 Terence Ryan (Emeritus Professor of Dermatology, Oxford U; Oxford Centre for Health Care R and D): Anxiety and pain

2.30 Peter Mole (Oxford Natural Health Centre): Acupuncture

3.00 Tea Break

3.30 Alex Hankey (Maharishi Foundation, London): Transcendental meditation

4.00 Richard Dixey (Chief Executive, Phytopharm, Godmanchester): Botanicals: a new paradigm for drug discovery