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Community Briefs

CHM hosts unique health conference

The Computer History Museum was abuzz this week with hundreds of health and technology representatives from around the world, who came to Mountain View for a conference on "personalized medicine" — the use of patients' genetic material to customize treatments and improve outcomes for diseases like cancer and heart disease.

The Tuesday-Wednesday conference focused on new technologies in this growing field, as well as ways to better bring these technologies to patients.

"It takes a long time to get new developments in medicine into actual practice, and we're trying to shorten that up for the physicians and patients," said Lynn Dowling, a consultant for El Camino's Genomic Medicine Institute, or GMI. A keynote speaker on Wednesday was GMI director Dr. Paul Billings.

El Camino, a sponsor of the conference, is the only community hospital nationwide which focuses on personalized medicine, according to hospital spokesperson Chris Ernst.

For more information, visit www.pmwc2010.com.

— Dana Sherne

League to host community college forum

Trustees of the Foothill-De Anza district board and members of the community will discuss the challenges facing community colleges in light of declining funding during a public forum at the Los Altos library next Wednesday, Jan. 27.

Sponsored by local chapters of the League of Women Voters, the discussion will address ways in which the state budget crunch could affect the colleges' core mission. Attendees will be able to voice their opinions on what the colleges' priorities should be.

The event kicks off a League-sponsored series, "Hot Topics," focusing on hot-button national, state and local issues.

The forum is from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Los Altos Public Library, 12 San Antonio Road. For more information, visit www.lwvlamv.org or call (650) 941-4846.

— Kelsey Mesher