EASIGEN-DS consortium presents mini-symposium on advanced genomics in research and healthcare

On 26th March, the EASIGEN-DS mini-symposium on advanced genomics in research and healthcare took place at the Ruđer Bošković Institute facilities in Zagreb, Croatia. 

The event brought together around 70 participants, filling the meeting room for a morning dedicated to cutting‑edge developments in genomic technologies and their applications through the talks of leading experts from different European genomics centers, such as KU Leuven, KTH and CNAG.

Opening the mini-symposium, Oliver Vugrek (Head of the Laboratory for Advanced Genomics at Ruđer Bošković Institute) welcomed participants and speakers and highlighted the role of EASIGEN-DS in working collaboratively to build a future genomics infrastructure available to everyone in Europe and its role to support widening countries.

The mini-symposium began with the presentation of the first speaker, Sandra Vidović (National Contact Point for Research Infrastructures, Croatian Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes) that introduced the role of research infrastructures and highlighted their essential role in Europe, in Croatia, and within the European Research Area. Ivo Gut (Director of CNAG), introduced the EASIGEN-DS project and walked us through how spatial and single‑cell genomic technologies generate “maps” that guide researchers in addressing major biological questions. Followed by Robert Månsson Welinder, (Head of Unit at National Genomics Infrastructure, KTH) presented on the potential of HiFi long‑read whole‑genome sequencing to enable personalised treatment strategies for multiple myeloma. The last speaker of the morning was Joris Vermeesch (Head of Laboratory at KU Leuven), provided an overview of current uses of cell‑free DNA in prenatal diagnosis and explored emerging applications in cancer diagnosis and screening.

To conclude the event, Oliver Vugrek summarised the key insights from the session, thanked the organising team, speakers and participants for their contributions, their engagement and for contributing to a productive and inspiring morning dedicated to genomics.