can individual and community health coexist?
The first workshop day included 16 invited presentations, focusing on ‘Health, Genes and Society’ (morning and early afternoon sessions) and continued in the late afternoon with a session on ‘Medical Genetics and Pharmacogenetics’. The workshop was opened by a keynote presentation by Leo ten Kate (VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands), who is among the key advocates for community genetics and the editor of the journal by the same name. Community genetics is indeed an interdisciplinary field harnessing genomics tools for benefiting society, such as, improving prenatal genetic screening programs. As presented by our keynote speaker, society must ensure that personalized medicine would follow this path, serving the interests of both the individual and the community.The first session speakers included Klaus Lindpaintner (Hoffman La-Roche, Switzerland), who presented his views as to how personalized medicine should be promoted. He cautioned the audience not to expect too much from
