Experts from Upstate will speak about the future of medicine as part of the Intelligent Conversation Series sponsored by LeMoyne College and Syracuse University's University College. The events are free and open to the public.

"Personalized Medicine: Tailoring Health Care in the Information Age," takes places at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 25 in LeMoyne's Grewen Auditorium. Speakers include Robert West PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, and Robert Olick JD, PhD, associate professor and chair of the University Hospital Ethics Committee.

Description: Genotyping, plus use of the internet, is creating "personalized medicine," a new age of medicine in which genetic testing allows care to be tailored to a specific patient's genetic code. Upstate Medical University was among the first in the nation to offer training to medical students that incorporates genomic and personalized medicine into the curriculum. But genetic testing for risk factors for certain diseases raises a number of ethical, moral and legal questions that have just begun to be discussed.

"Narrative Medicine: Using Literature and Patient's Stories to Improve Health Care," takes place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 2 at LeMoyne's Grewen Auditorium. Speakers include Rebecca Garden PhD, an associate professor at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities, and Joel Potash MD, professor emeritus of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities.

Description: The relationship between doctor and patient can be literally a matter of life and death, yet with the increasing use of technology in medicine and growing patient loads, medicine is becoming increasingly depersonalized. Narrative medicine uses poems, novels and particularly stories written by people with illness and disability to help doctors, nurses and other health care professionals improve health care by listening to patient's stories and recognizing patients' authority.

Parking for both events is in lot AA off Springfield Road on the LeMoyne campus.