PGC Genomics Scientific Retreat

Our keynote speakers were Sarah Tishkoff, PhD, David and Lyn Silfen University Professor in genetics and biology at the University of Pennsylvania; and Geoff Ginsburg, MD, PhD, Chief Medical and Scientific Officers for the All of Us research program.

• Sarah Tishkoff, PhD, studies genomic and phenotypic variation in ethnically diverse Africans. Her research combines field work, laboratory research, and computational methods to examine African population history and how genetic variation can affect a wide range of traits – for example, why humans have different susceptibility to disease, how they metabolize drugs, and how they adapt through evolution.
• Geoff Ginsburg, MD, PhD, is the chief medical and scientific officer of the All of Us Research Program at the National Institutes of Health. He leads the Division of Medical and Scientific Research and is responsible for helping to set the scientific vision and strategy for the program. He also oversees the program’s collection and curation of data and integration of new data types to support a wide range of impactful scientific discoveries.

The second annual Precision Genomics Collaboratory Scientific Retreat was a day-long retreat in the Trent Semans Center on February 24, 2023. 

Our keynote speaks were Rick Myers, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and President Emeritus of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and Amy Sturm, MS, CGC, Director of Population Health Genomics at 23andMe.

• Rick Myers, PhD, studies the human genome to understand how changes in gene expression contribute to human health and disease, as well as to basic biological processes. Myers’s group develops and applies innovative technologies and high-throughput next-generation sequencing technology to identify, characterize and understand gene regulatory systems.
• Amy Sturm, MS CGC, has 20 years of experience in leadership, clinical care, research, program development, and implementation in population genomic screening, cardiovascular genetics and genomics, and digital health technologies. At 23andMe, she works with the product team to look for ways to bring 23andMe's vision and commitment to integrating genetic information into clinical care for patients.

Agenda

The first annual Duke Precision Genomics Collaboratory Scientific Retreat was a day-long retreat held on Friday, December 3, 2021, at the NC Biotechnology Center in RTP.

Our keynote speakers were Gilad Evrony of the Center for Human Genetics and Genomics at New York University and Christine Beck of University of Connecticut Health Center & The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine.

• Dr. Evrony uses genomics to study brain development in humans. His lab also develops genomics technologies that can be rapidly and reliably employed in clinical medicine. 
• Dr. Beck uses genomics, bioinformatics and molecular biological techniques to investigate the ways in which repetitive DNA elements, such as transposons, affect human genomes.

Graduate students, postdoctoral and junior investigators were invited to apply to give 10 minute oral presentations. We also held a poster presentation for young investigators to showcase their research. 

Agenda