BioData.pt participates in the PT_MedGen Conference

BioData.pt participates in the PT_MedGen Conference, which takes place this Thursday, the 3rd of November, 2022, at the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge, in Lisbon. The PT_MedGen Conference is dedicated to the ongoing initiatives and challenges for establishing a National Strategy for Genomic Medicine. The opening session of this conference has the presence of the Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Dr. Ana Abrunhosa.

One of the cornerstones of this Strategy is the Genome of Portugal Project, which aims to streamline Genomic Medicine research by sequencing the genome of 15 thousand of citizens. This milestone is crucial for the characterization of our population, bringing light into our history and allowing personalized treatment strategies. 

This effort involves great challenges as the legal issues related to human data access across borders, the installation of the infrastructures for the sequencing, analysis, storage, management and sharing of the data, the capacitation of human resources for the operation of these infrastructures, and creating awareness and support of the population for the importance of this initiatives.

BioData.pt has been contributing to the development of this Strategy since its inception, by Mário Gaspar da Silva (full professor at Instituto Superior Técnico and Head of Node of ELIXIR Portugal) and Ana Portugal Melo (CEO of BioData.pt and Deputy Head of Node of ELIXIR Portugal), being responsible for the establishment and operation of the infrastructure for data storage, management and sharing, which connects to European Initiatives like the One Million Genomes Initiative, the Beyond One Million Genomes Project, the Genomics Data Infrastructure Project, and the planned Genome of Portugal. 

Mário Gaspar da Silva will deliver a Flash Talk about the Infrastructure for Data Storage and Interoperability, for which BioData.pt is responsible. Ana Portugal Melo and Jorge Oliveira (CTO of BioData.pt and Deputy Technical Coordinator of ELIXIR Portugal) will contribute to the afternoon information session about the construction and operation of the Genomic Infrastructure.