Signature Scientific Microarray Conference Keynote Speakers Announced

SPOKANE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The keynote speakers for the 2009 Signature Genomic Laboratories Scientific Microarray Conference have been announced.

Keynote speaker R. J. McKinlay "Mac" Gardner, M.D., is co-author of the seminal cytogenetics text Chromosome Abnormalities and Genetic Counseling. For the past 14 years, Dr. Gardner has also been a consultant geneticist to Genetic Health Services Victoria, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Gardner received his M.D. from the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand in 1968 and completed his training in clinical genetics in New Zealand, the U.K., France and Canada.

David Chitayat, M.D., is a Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Molecular and Medical Genetics and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology. He is the head of the Prenatal Diagnosis and Medical Genetics Program at Mount Sinai Hospital, a clinical geneticist at the Division of Clinical Genetics and Metabolism, The Hospital for Sick Children and the Medical Director of The MSc Program in Genetic Counseling at the University of Toronto. Dr. Chitayat has contributed to over 200 publications in the fields of prenatal and pediatric pathology.

Kurt Benirschke, M.D., is a renowned expert in mammalian placental and reproductive pathology. Following a tenure as chairman of the Department of Pathology at Dartmouth Medical School, Dr. Benirschke helped establish the medical school of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1970. He has co-authored over five-hundred scientific publications and thirty books, including the Atlas of Mammalian Chromosomes and Human Placental Pathology. Dr. Benirschke is a member of numerous professional societies, including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Benirschke received his M.D. from the University of Hamburg, Germany.

The only event of its kind in the United States, the Scientific Microarray Conference brings together medical professionals who use Signature’s microarray diagnostic technology in their practices for a weekend of discussion about the clinical applications of this technology.

About Signature Genomic Laboratories, LLC

Signature Genomic Laboratories is the leader in providing microarray-based chromosome analysis. Signature’s worldwide client base includes clinical geneticists, neurologists, pediatricians, neonatologists, obstetricians, and the research community. Signature is CAP accredited, CLIA certified, and has clinical licenses from California, New York, Rhode Island and Florida. Additional information about Signature Genomic Laboratories is available at www.signaturegenomics.com.