Progress and Challenges in Precision Medicine

Dr. Mukesh Verma is a Program Director and Chief in the Methods and Technologies Branch (MTB), Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program (EGRP) of the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Before coming to the DCCPS, he was a Program Director in the Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP), NCI, providing direction in the areas of biomarkers, early detection, risk assessment and prevention of cancer, epigenetics, epidemiology, and cancers associated with infectious agents. Since joining the NCI, he has sought to champion the visibility of and investment in cancer epigenetics research both within the Institute and across other federal and non-governmental agencies, and to raise public awareness about controlling cancer. He represents NIH in Common Fund Programs on Epigenomics, Metabolomics, and Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity. Dr. Mukesh Verma holds a M.Sc. from Pantnagar University and a Ph.D. from Banaras Hindu University. He did postdoctoral research at George Washington University and was a faculty member at Georgetown University Medical Center. He has published 161 research articles and reviews and edited five books in cancer biomarkers, epigenetics and epidemiology field. Dr. Debmalya Barh is currently a Visiting Full Professor (Titular, Grade-E) in Bioinformatics and Precision Health at the Department of Genetics, Ecology, and Evolution, ICB, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil and honorary scientist of the Institute of Integrative Omics and Applied Biotechnology (IIOAB), India. With over 20 years of experience, he has led academic, healthcare, molecular diagnostic, and bioinformatics industry endeavors. He works with more than 400 scientists from 100+ top ranked organizations across 40+ countries and has 220+ publications and a branded editor for 10+ cutting-edge omics related reference books. He is an expert in in precision/personalized health and integrative omics-based biomarker and target discovery in infectious and complex lifestyle diseases.