By Jeffrey Kidd, PhD, ASHG Program Committee Chair
The ASHG 2021 Virtual Meeting is an incredible opportunity for geneticists from across the globe to collaborate and join forces to propel research forward. ASHG’s 71st annual meeting will take place virtually October 18-22. Each year our Annual Meeting acts as the premier venue for showcasing innovation across the breadth of the genetics and genomics field and is renowned for being the largest, most comprehensive, and influential. We hear from our membership and community-at-large that there simply is no substitute for what ASHG offers – from presentations sharing the latest innovations and emerging science – to forging collaborations with peers, exploring new tools and technologies, advancing careers, and engaging with like-minded scientists from diverse areas of focus.
I encourage you to register for this year’s ASHG 2021 Virtual Meeting and join more than 6,500 researchers, clinicians, industry scientists, and science advocates from nearly 80 countries as they come together to share exciting developments. Not only is the registration fee for the meeting quite low, but we are also offering attendance at the virtual meeting at no additional cost for members in Tier 1 developing countries to allow for wider access. It is an unprecedented value for a full week’s access to leading science and scientists in human genetics research.
This year’s virtual meeting schedule will have something for everyone. Flexible viewing is available for our international community, with rebroadcasted, on-demand programming available immediately after being aired live. Invited sessions are now set and titles and tracks are outlined below. You can preview the full descriptions and speaker listings here. In early August, we will have the full program with abstract-driven plenary, platform and poster sessions highlighting the latest basic, clinical, and translational research from members from around the globe.
Tuesday, October 19
- Leveraging 150,000 whole genome sequences from the UK Biobank to transform pharmaceutical research
- Genomic and epigenomic discoveries from the first truly complete assembly of a human genome
- Defining target genes in complex disease: A roadmap to precision medicine
Wednesday, October 20
- Cell-free DNA: biological and clinical applications
- N-of-1 Precision Medicine in the Era of Antisense Oligonucleotide Therapeutics
- Novel insights into gene-environment interactions from environmental influences on Mendelian disease phenotypes
- Global genomics and health equity: challenges and opportunities
- Stakeholder perspectives on ethical and social implications of using clinical polygenic risk scores through embedded ELSI research
Thursday, October 21
- Workforce Diversity in Genomics: Equity and the Meaning of Inclusion
- Novel technologies and algorithms for optimizing throughput and impact of precision animal models for VUS functional determination or therapeutic development
- Expanding the frontiers of congenital disorders of glycosylation
- Cross-ancestry genomic research: time to bridge the gap
- Medical and Evolutionary Insights into Human Resistance against Pathogens
Friday, October 22
- Gatekeeping Genetics: Towards a More Diverse, Just, and Inclusive Research Enterprise
- Nonsense-mediated decay: A double-edged sword in cancer and genetic diseases
- Global Resources for Precision Medicine
We learned a great deal from hosting ASHG’s first virtual meeting last year and just as the structure of the meeting continues to evolve this year, so too has the technology with which we deliver it. The experience will be personalized, engaging, interactive – and, as always, inspiring. I hope you will join us in October to learn and share your latest research.