Precision Medicine and Ancestry - Hudson Lecture 2026

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The Royal Society Te Apārangi and its Wellington Branch will host the Branch’s Hudson Lecture for 2026 - a lecture on precision medicine and ancestry by Dr. Geoff Chambers. We hope that you will attend and contribute to the discussion afterwards. Please come along. Full details of the lecture are given below.

Abstract

Starting 5,000 years ago from the island of Taiwan, Austronesian people have dispersed to settle many places in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Along the way they developed the characteristic Lapita culture and interacted with other voyagers. Their descendants now number around 350 million worldwide.

Geoff will explain how modern genetic studies, including those of his team of colleagues, can serve to inform our understanding of these events in relation to exciting new opportunities delivered by precision medicine.

Biography

Geoff Chambers is a biochemist and molecular biologist who joined the academic staff at VUW in 1985. He developed strong research programmes in wildlife conservation and human molecular genetics. Starting from forensic DNA profiling technology and extending to work on blood groups and tissue transplantation, the data from his research have far-reaching implications for scientific understanding of Pacific Island health issues.