Talks

Awakening, Regeneration and the Role of Precision Psychiatry

Friday June 24, 15:45, Alternative Stage GNO

Sander Markx, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia Precision Medicine Initiative, Columbia University Medical Center

Precision medicine has the potential to help patients with psychiatric conditions previously considered untreatable.

Columbia Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry Sander Markx shared with the audience two cases of patients suffering from severe psychiatric illnesses whose symptoms seemed not only incurable but also impossible to even mitigate. By running highly specialized tests, a team of expert health scientists came up with unprecedented results. The audience was shown videos of the patients, whose perception and communication skills changed dramatically before and after treatment. The patients in the “after” videos were now functional and able to live their lives.

"When I have bad days and I’m starting to lose faith in my profession, I watch these videos," concluded Sander Markx.

Towards the end of his presentation, he also made mention of the SNF Center for Precision Psychiatry and Mental Health at Columbia University, which was launched in collaboration with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) and aspires to propel expansion of genomics-based precision medicine and subsequently lead to progress in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of psychiatric conditions.