The H.L. Snyder Medical Foundation has arranged for Dr. Matthew Freedman to speak in Winfield on "Genetics and Medicine/Prostate Cancer." Freedman is one of the two top researchers from Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School.

He will present on his research from 3:15 to 4:30 p.m. Sept. 10 in Mossman Hall, Room 101, Southwestern College. This session is free and open to the public. 

Freedman's research focuses on prostate cancer and how our genome can guide clinical decision making. His objective is to find more effective ways to treat prostate cancer. The emphasis in the laboratory is to understand the clinical and functional consequences of DNA sequence variation. 

The human genome project decoded the three billion letters (or bases) of DNA that make up our genome. The genome is essentially the set of instructions for the development and function of a human being. This information is being used to understand the variation in traits seen in populations — from answering why some individuals are at an increased risk of developing disease to why certain people respond better to (or suffer side effects from) medication than others.

The mapping of the human genome has answered many questions about genetics and cancer, but cancer investigators are still trying to fully connect the dots.

Ongoing support from the H.L. Snyder Foundation has aided Dr. Freedman and his collaborators in examining one piece of the puzzle: performing a landmark cistrome-wide association study (CWAS) in normal and tumor human prostate tissue samples. This work is the first of its kind, as Dr. Freedman seeks to apply genome editing. This emerging technology will work towards the stable re-programming and re-wiring of endogenous gene expression in human cells. It will also provide cutting-edge tools for understanding the role of how DNA sequence changes influence cancer risk and progression and could be the key to developing precise treatments with a better understanding of molecular pathways.

The H.L. Snyder Medical Foundation is a crucial partner in funding significant and innovative lines of research.