link23 launch: The power of partnerships in improving equity in genomics

About this event and link23

Despite advancements in the field of genomics, disparities still exist in its practice and in the representation of populations of non-European ancestries in genomics databases leading to unequal outcomes in healthcare and treatment, as well as mistrust among underrepresented communities. To ensure genomics works for everyone, it's important to address these inequalities.

link23 (www.link23.world) is a new global initiative focused on providing practical solutions to increase equity in genomics by curating, building, implementing, and scaling practical solutions.

Come along to find out more and how to get involved in link23!

The launch event will feature a guest presentation from Charles Rahal on the GWAS Diversity Monitor, an important tool for understanding data diversity in genomics. It will also feature a guest panel discussion from global genomics experts on what’s needed to make genomics more equitable and the barriers and opportunities to doing so.

This launch event will be one of many activities that link23 undertake to highlight tools and solutions to promote equity in genomics, and to nurture a global community interested in this cause.

Agenda

14:00 – Welcome and intro to link23

14:10 – Presentation: Monitoring Diversity across GWAS in Pseudo-Real Time;

Dr Charles Rahal – Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, University of Oxford

14:25 – Panel discussion : Making genomics more equitable; with:

Dr Ekin Bolukbasi - Wellcome, Data for Science and Health

Prof Collet Dandara – University of Cape Town

Prof Jie Zheng - Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Ruijin Hospital.

Dr Janeth Sanchez – NIH

14.55 – Wrap up & closing remarks

Speaker and Panellist Biographies:

Dr Charles Rahal – Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, University of Oxford

Charles Rahal is a Senior Departmental Research Lecturer at the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, University of Oxford. With a background in high dimensional econometrics, his current focus is on building open, reproducible tools which examine (in-)equity and (in-)equality in large observational datasets. This ranges from methodological advancements involving the evaluation of machine learning models through to the evaluation of research policy and topics in civic transparency (and specifically how governments procure services for the public good). He is especially interested in generating impact from academic work and in how academic work can inform the 'data science for health equity' space (with a focus on genomics research) in addition to all things open and reproducible.

Prof Jie Zheng - Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Ruijin Hospital

Jie obtained a PhD degree in genetic epidemiology from the University of Bristol in 2015. In 2018, Jie received the Vice- Chancellor fellowship and in 2021 the Springboard Award from the Academy of Medical Science. In January 2022, he officially joined Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine as a professor. Jie has multi-disciplinary background in statistical genetics, epidemiology, and bioinformatics, with experience in building up platforms such as MR-Base and LD Hub, applying causal inference method Mendelian randomization and conducting multi-ancestry omics analysis. So far, Jie published a total of 121 papers, with over 8100 citations (h- index=31, i-10-index=54). In addition, Jie was supported by 2 fellowships and 4 research grants in the UK. With the support of these research funds, he led a multi-disciplinary team in the UK till 2021. After returning back to China, he received four fellowships and a major grant to establish a research team in Shanghai.

Dr Ekin Bolukbasi - Wellcome, Data for Science and Health

Ekin is the Data Prizes Manager at Wellcome. Ekin completed a PhD in genetics at the University of Edinburgh, and then focused on biogerontology as a postdoctoral fellow at University College London. Since joining Wellcome, Ekin has worked on major initiatives at the intersection of global health and data. These include Wellcome's Africa and Asia Programmes, Health Data Research UK, and more recently led Wellcome Data Prizes Programme. Ekin is passionate about equitable use of health-related data and making a positive impact on health globally through science and technology.

* link23 is new initiative with founding support from Genomics England, the Alan Turing Institute and the Data Science for Health Equity community*