University of Wisconsin–Madison

2026 Polygenic Risk Scores

Presented by the Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, in partnership with the Center for Precision Medicine, University of Wisconsin–Madison

The PRS 2026 Implementation Forum convenes clinicians, laboratory scientists, health system leaders, and policy researchers for one day on what it takes to deliver polygenic risk scores in routine care. The program spans evidence, workflow, cost, disease-specific practice, and policy, and closes with a shared implementation roadmap published as the Forum’s proceedings.

2026 Polygenic Risk Scores

Thursday September 10th, 2026

7:30am – 5:00pm
Brookfield Conference Center
325 S Moorland Rd, Brookfield, WI 53005

 

Learning objectives.

At the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to:

Evaluate the analytic and clinical validity evidence supporting a polygenic risk score, including how ancestral and environmental context affect whether a score performs as expected in a given patient population.

Describe the operational requirements of a health system PRS program, including laboratory reporting, electronic health record integration, clinical decision support, and the cost and coverage decisions that determine whether a program is sustainable.

Apply findings from established PRS-guided care pathways in cardiovascular disease, lipid disorders, kidney disease, and cancer screening to implementation planning in their own setting.

Communicate polygenic risk results to patients in a manner that supports informed decision-making, and identify the current gaps in genetic privacy and insurance protection that bear on disclosure.

Disclosure statement.

Conflict-of-interest disclosures are collected from all speakers, moderators, and planning committee members, and are presented to attendees at the opening session.

 

Registration Now Open!

Registration via WebEx Events (formerly Socio)

Please note that for Professional and Vendor level tickets, you will need to complete payment via payment link sent via email, as policy dictates we cannot charge registration fees via our event platform.

Registration closes Friday, September 4, 2026, or earlier if capacity is reached. Seating is limited to 100 attendees.

Student and trainee registration is free but still requires advance registration, as a seat and catering count are held for each registrant.

Hotel Blocks

Hilton Garden Inn Milwaukee Brookfield Conference Center
$129/night
MCW Polygenic Risk Scores Forum Room Block

Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield Hotel
$109/night
MCW Polygenic Risk Scores Forum Room Block

 

Thank you to all of our presenters & sponsors!

Conference Co-Chairs & Keynotes

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Agenda

*Agenda sessions subject to change as we finalize the schedule* 

Day at a Glance

TimeActivityDuration
7:30 – 8:00 AMRegistration, Breakfast & Exhibition30 min
8:00 – 8:15 AMOpening Remarks15 min
8:15 – 9:30 AMSession 1. From Analytic Validity to Clinical Utility75 min
9:30 – 9:50 AMBreak and Exhibits20 min
9:50 – 10:55 AMSession 2. Clinical Integration: Workflow, Decision Support & Cost65 min
10:55 AM – 12:00 PMSession 3. PRSs for Cancer65 min
12:00 – 1:00 PMLunch & Founding Adopter Symposium (Illumina)60 min
1:00 – 2:05 PMSession 4. Cardiovascular & Kidney PRS in Practice65 min
2:05 – 3:10 PMSession 5. Patient Experience, Communication & Policy65 min
3:10 – 3:30 PMBreak and Exhibits20 min
3:30 – 4:45 PMImplementation Roadmap75 min
4:45 – 5:00 PMConcluding Remarks15 min
5:00 – 6:00 PMNetworking Reception60 min

Session-by-Session Program

Opening Session  |  8:00 – 8:15 AM

TimeTopicSpeaker / Format
8:00 AMWelcome, Conference Objectives & Disclosures 

Session 1. From Analytic Validity to Clinical Utility  |  8:15 – 9:30 AM

Chair: Iftikhar J. Kullo, MD — MCW

The evidence chain a polygenic score must satisfy before it can be used clinically: analytic validity in the laboratory, clinical validity in the population, and clinical utility at the bedside. This session establishes the vocabulary and the reporting standard that later sessions depends on.

TimeTopicSpeaker / Format
8:15 AMKEYNOTE: Analytic Validity of PRS — The Laboratory Perspective (25 min)Niall Lennon, PhD — Broad Clinical Labs
8:40 AMClinical Validity: Improving the Precision of PRSQiongshi Lu, PhD — UW–Madison
8:55 AMClinical Utility of PRS: The PRS-CUReS FrameworkIftikhar J. Kullo, MD — MCW
9:10 AMPanel DiscussionSession 1 speakers + Chair

Session 2. Clinical Integration: Workflow, Decision Support & Cost  |  9:50 – 10:55 AM

Chair: Muska Nataliansyah, MD, PhD, MPH — MCW

The session pairs the implementation-science lens on barriers and facilitators with the clinical decision support that delivers a score at the point of care, and closes on the cost and coverage considerations that determine whether a program is sustainable.

TimeTopicSpeaker / Format
9:50 AMImplementation Science for PRS: Frameworks, Barriers & FacilitatorsMuska Nataliansyah, MD, PhD, MPH — MCW
10:05 AMClinical Decision Support & EHR Integration for PRS-Guided CareNephi Walton, MD, PhD, MPH — U of North Carolina
10:20 AMCommercializationTBD
10:35 AMPanel DiscussionSession 2 speakers + Chair

Session 3. PRSs for Cancer  |  10:55 AM – 12:00 PM

Chair: Muhammed Murtaza, MD, PhD — UW–Madison

Cancer is where polygenic risk has travelled furthest into screening practice. The session opens on genomic testing for cancer more broadly, then turns to the evidence behind breast cancer polygenic scores and to what risk-stratified screening requires to be adopted.

TimeTopicSpeaker / Format
10:55 AMKEYNOTE: From Liquid Biopsy to Polygenic Risk — Genomic Testing for Cancer (20 min)Muhammed Murtaza, MD, PhD — UW–Madison
11:15 AM ? Implementation of PRS to improve precision health and cancer screeningElizabeth Kearney, UW Health
11:30 AMeMERGE-IV: Returning Polygenic Risk at Scale in US Health SystemsJodell E. Jackson — Vanderbilt
11:45 AMPanel DiscussionSession 3 speakers + Chair

Lunch & Founding Adopter Symposium (Illumina)  |  12:00 – 1:00 PM

A 20-minute Founding Adopter talk (Illumina; non-promotional) on supporting PRS implementation in practice, followed by an informal working lunch.

Session 4. Cardiovascular & Kidney PRS in Practice  |  1:00 – 2:05 PM

Chair: Iftikhar J. Kullo, MD — MCW

 Coronary artery disease; familial and polygenic hyperlipidemia show how monogenic and polygenic testing combine; and the session closes on hypertension and chronic kidney disease, where PRS pathways are maturing.

TimeTopicSpeaker / Format
1:00 PMCoronary Heart DiseaseIftikhar J. Kullo, MD — MCW
1:15 PMHyperlipidemia: Integrating Monogenic and Polygenic TestingAimee Zullo, MD — MCW
1:30 PMHypertension and Chronic Kidney DiseaseAshraf El-Meanawy, MD — MCW
1:45 PMPanel DiscussionSession 4 speakers + Chair

Session 5. Patient Experience, Communication & Policy  |  2:05 – 3:10 PM

Chair: Saskia C. Sanderson, PhD — Our Future Health / KCL

A polygenic result only matters if it is understood and acted on, and if the person receiving it is protected from its misuse. This session covers what happens after disclosure — behavioral and patient-reported outcomes, the counseling needed to convey probabilistic risk — and the insurance and legal gaps that shape whether patients accept testing at all.

TimeTopicSpeaker / Format
2:05 PMRisk Communication: Conveying Polygenic Risk to Patients and CliniciansRachel A. Sundstrom, MS, CGC — MCW
2:20 PMPatient-Reported & Behavioral Outcomes after PRS DisclosureSaskia C. Sanderson, PhD — King’s College London
2:35 PMGenetic Information, Insurance & GINA GapsAnya E. R. Prince, JD, MPP — Univ. of Iowa College of Law
2:50 PMPanel DiscussionSession 5 speakers + Chair (Sanderson)

Implementation Roadmap  |  3:30 – 4:45 PM

Moderator: Iftikhar J. Kullo, MD — MCW

The capstone of the day. Patients and referring clinicians say what would make a PRS result worth acting on, and the goal is to convert the sessions’ action items into a prioritized roadmap — the evidence still required, the pilot or registry needed to generate it, and the owners and timeline to do it. Live polling ranks priorities, reported with denominators as participant input.

TimeTopicSpeaker / Format
3:30 PMPatient Perspectives on Using PRS in the Clinic (25 min)Patient panel (moderated)
3:55 PMClinician Perspectives on Using PRS in the Clinic (25 min)Moderated panel — Laura Hawks, Fuad Jan, Lisa Bauman-Kreuger, Sanjeev Puri (+ nephrology & T2D)
4:20 PMThe Roadmap: Evidence Requirements, the Pilot/Registry to Generate Them, Owners & Timeline (25 min)All attendees — live poll + moderated discussion with the Session Chairs

Sponsors

We acknowledge support of this meeting by unrestricted grants from Illumina, Novartis & MyOme

Lead / Founding Adopter Sponsor

Supporting Sponsors

Sponsorship acknowledges support of this educational program and does not imply endorsement. Sponsors receive no attendee list and hold no role in program content