The annual Festival of Genomics and Biodata, organised by Front Line Genomics, returned last week for the 8th year, and in-person again for the first time since the pandemic. Over 4,000 delegates from industry, academia, government, and health care, including the NHS, visited the Business Design Centre in London for the 2-day event on Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th January. A team of six from the core BioResource team travelled from Cambridge and were joined by several BioResource-affiliated colleagues from partner institutions across the country.
The BioResource exhibition stand was set-up nice and early on the eve of the Festival, and in a great location outside one of the main rooms. A near-constant stream of delegates, drawn in by sweets or not, had the chance to talk with one of our team about the BioResource’s unique resource to support researchers by combining genetic and clinical data on more than 200,000 volunteers, and ability to recall participants by genotype and or phenotype.
Despite queues around the block to get access on a chilly first morning, most delegates made it inside to hear from Professor Dame Sue Hill on progress implementing the NHS Genomic Medicine Service in England. Before evening drinks on a jam-packed first day, our Director, Dr. Nathalie Kingston, took to the Park Stage to share our work supporting experimental medicine and early phase clinical trials, covering many common and rare disease areas.
Day 2 featured Professor Gerome Breen, Mental Health BioResource lead and Professor of Psychiatric Genetics at King’s College London covering the Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression (GLAD) Study and how we are supporting mental health research.
We also featured in the Poster Zone, with our Research Studies Recall Manager Hannah Williams displaying a visual breakdown of the participant cohorts available to researchers and some recent case studies to demonstrate the impact of our work.
Other highlights included Professor John Todd of the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre and one of the newest BioResource Centres, on a packed Live Lounge stage presenting on Precision Medicine, and Nathalie attending the Breakfast Briefing on the morning of day 2: an invite-only get together of senior leadership within the genomics sector, discussing international collaboration, with attendees including Genomics England, Prof. Dame Sue Hill, industry and UK Government representatives.
A pretty full-on event for the team, but the incredible amount of content and networking opportunities mean the Festival of Genomics and Biodata is not to be missed for those wanting to make connections and raise profile within this exciting sector. The BioResource are delighted to have confirmed attendance as an exhibitor for the Festival 2024.
If you came to see us at the Festival and would like to follow-up, or have any questions about our work and how to partner with us, please do get in touch or learn more about research support or joining as one of our volunteers.
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