Date: December 11, 2006 (Monday)
Time: 12:30 - 14:00 (sandwich lunch from 12:30 - 12:45; seminar begins at 12:45)
Venue: Seminar Room 6, LG/F, Laboratory Block, Faculty of Medicine Building,
21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Abstract:
The Human Genome Epidemiology Network (HuGENet) was established in 1998, and is committed to the assessment of the impact of human genome variation on population health and how genetic information can be used to improve health and prevent disease. One of its key initiatives is the preparation of systematic reviews on associations between genes and complex diseases, including evidence on the joint effects of multiple genes and between genetic and environmental factors. It has published over forty reviews to date, and has many more in preparation. Dr Higgins will provide an overview of HuGENet's systematic review activities and outline some other initiatives aimed at developing the evidence base on how genetic variation impacts on population health. He will also describe some of the main challenges in undertaking systematic reviews in this field.

Bio-sketch:
Julian Higgins is Senior Statistician at the MRC Biostatistics Unit and Senior Epidemiologist at the Public Health Genetics Unit in Cambridge. He previously worked at the Royal Free and University College Medical School and at Imperial College School of Medicine in London. He is a Visiting Fellow at the UK Cochrane Centre in Oxford, is on the Executive Committee of the Human Genome Epidemiology Network (HuGENet), and heads the UK HuGENet Coordinating Centre in Cambridge. He co-edits both the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions and the HuGENet HuGE Review Handbook. Julian's primary research interest is in methods for systematic review and meta-analysis, with particular application in human genome epidemiology and in clinical trials.

Registration:
For registration and enquiries, please call Ms Cecilia Sie at 2819-9911 or email mhrn@hkusua.hku.hk