GHGA Annual Meeting held in Tübingen

Early October, GHGA team members and PIs came together in the Alte Aula in Tübingen to celebrate the two year anniversary  of GHGA. Over two days, we discussed exciting topics including the technical, legal and ethical challenges around building a secure infrastructure for human genome data, and the roadmap ahead.  After another busy year we showcased finished products like a metadata concept, signed legal contracts, outreach and training activities and consent tools for the community. 

Starting the meeting, we invited the scientific community to join our public Symposium on 'FAIR Sharing Approaches for Human Omics Data' in a hybrid format. Showcasing international perspectives and experiences with genomic data sharing, we welcomed Katrin Crameri (Personalized Health Informatics & SPHN Data Coordination Center, SIB), Ilkka Lappalainen (ELIXIR Finland at CSC - IT Center for Science) and Gerrit Meijer (The Netherlands Cancer Institute) to report on the national efforts in Switzerland, Finland and The Netherlands. The valuable insights from the Swiss Personalized Health Network (SPHN), finnish FEGA node and Health-RI inspired fruitful discussions and gave food for thought. GHGA is excited to further intensify the international collaborations with these partners. Closing off the public session, Board of Directors Member Oliver Kohlbacher gave an update on GHGA and our road over the last two years. 

The afternoon of day one saw GHGA Team members present key achievements such as the metadata model, consent tools (1,2) and GHGA’s patient engagement efforts. Working on current questions and keen on receiving input from the team, we then split the audience into workshops around User Experience of the GHGA data portal, future patient engagement and the extension of the metadata model. 

The second day started with the reveal of the new GHGA corporate design and a presentation on single cells workflows, which will be valuable features on an operational GHGA portal. Update from thel workstreams followed to inform all GHGA members of the plans ahead and gather feedback on current questions. An open strategy discussion rounded off the meeting and provided valuable input, which the team is now working on to incorporate. It was great to see so many members in-person and we are looking forward to implementing all ideas hatched on this fantastic event.