The Centre for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS) conducted the fourth webinar in its monthly webinar series.  Yesterday’s program focused on Big Data in Genomics, and was attended by more than 450 participants from all over the world.

 

The webinar began with a talk by Dr. Julia Baptista, Clinical Scientist at the Exeter Genomics Laboratory, in which she discussed genomic testing for acutely ill children with rare disease and the UK national rapid exome sequencing service. Dr. Shareef Nahas, Senior Director at the Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine discussed a system for delivery of rapid genome sequencing-enabled management of childhood genetic diseases.

 

Lastly, Dr. Andreas Henschel, Associate Professor at the Khalifa University discussed genotype-phenotype predictions using genomic data science: Enabling machine learning for understudied populations. The webinar was moderated by Dr. Aashish Jha, Assistant Professor, NYUAD.

 

Dr. Mahmoud Taleb Al Ali, Director of CAGS said, "Just as important as the generation of big data, is the sharing of this data with other researchers in the field via public databases. CAGS is proud to have been one of the first organizations in the Arab World to recognize the importance of genetic data and to establish a public database to maintain the data. I take this opportunity to invite genetic researchers in the region to contribute their data into the CTGA Database, for the benefit of the community."

 

Choosing this topic for this webinar comes within the framework of the UAE’s strategy in addressing genetic diseases. Especially through projects such as the Emirati Genome Program, which aim to develop a genetic map for individuals and integrate it with health data in order to provide distinguished healthcare to citizens based on the results of the genetic sequence examination.