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IHCC Newsletter

November 2022

In this edition

  • Message from the Co-Chairs
  • IHCC 5th International Cohorts Summit (ICS5)
  • IHCC Featured Cohort: Uganda Genome Resource – Uganda General Population Cohort (UGR-GPC)
  • Educational Webinar Series
  • IHCC Working Groups Meeting Schedules: Join Us!

Message from the Co-Chairs

Greetings to the IHCC Community,

To begin, we would encourage all of our IHCC members to register and attend the upcoming International Cohorts Summit #5 (ICS5) scheduled for Thursday, 29 Nov through Friday, 2 Dec, 2022 (registration details and agenda below). This will be a virtual meeting with no costs to attend, so please pass this information on to any of your organization’s staff, young investigators, students or any associates you think would be interested in the discussions. ICS5 will have keynote presentations, topical discussion panels, poster presentations and more, with an exciting agenda that truly offers something for everyone!

One of IHCC’s fundamental goals from our 5-year strategic plan is to demonstrate that we generate impactful science through cultivating a collaborative research environment. To achieve this objective, in 2020 we solicited scientific proposals that utilized our unique cohort resources to address the COVID-19 pandemic; improve understanding of the causes and consequences of common, complex diseases; improve understanding of variability in response to treatments; identify strategies and resources for translating data and samples into genomic information, particularly in Low-to-Middle-Income Countries; and identify enhancements to existing cohorts and datasets. Following a review of proposals by the IHCC Scientific Projects subcommittee and with financial support from our key funders (NIH, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative and the Wellcome Trust) we initiated the IHCC Pilot Projects.

All of the IHCC-Pilot Projects have completed their initial timelines as of November 2022. The Pilot Projects have been fruitful with 5 accepted manuscripts, 5 manuscripts currently undergoing peer-review at various journals, and an additional 10 manuscripts in preparation for submission. Three of the IHCC Pilot Projects (BMI-Cancer, Metabolomics and COVID-Mental Health) have expanded their research by including additional LMIC cohorts with funding from the NIH. Several of the Pilot Projects have garnered additional support from new regional funding sources, and all Pilot Projects continue to increase the number of collaborating cohorts and expand their research beyond the initial funding objectives and timelines of the “Pilot” phase. The Pilot Projects are clear evidence of achieving our IHCC vision:  the power of a global community of cohorts working together to advance science and improve health for all. Please join us in congratulating the Principal Investigators, their teams and collaborators as they transition from the “Pilot” phase to full-fledged IHCC projects.  You can learn more about the IHCC Pilot projects from the manuscript weblinks below, IHCC Educational Webinars, and at ICS5.

Coronavirus Host Genomics Study: South Africa (COVIGen-SA)

Trajectories of common mental disorders symptoms before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from the ELSA-Brasil COVID-19 Mental Health Cohort

Metabolomic profiling of samples from pediatric patients with asthma unveils deficient nutrients in African Americans

Association of Everyday Discrimination With Depressive Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the All of Us Research Program

Prevalence and risk factors of psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from the ELSA-Brasil COVID-19 mental health cohort | Psychological Medicine | Cambridge Core

Finally, we want to thank all our IHCC members for participating in our activities and who continue to provide valuable input to the IHCC surveys, workshops, webinars, newsletters, summits, and governance meetings throughout the year. You are the focus of these efforts as we endeavor to convene, connect, and catalyze successful scientific collaborations across the IHCC. We are truly grateful for your time and effort.  

As always we welcome your input and guidance – please reach out anytime.

Sincerely, Geoff, Michele, and Peter

IHCC International Cohorts Summit (ICS5)

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Join Us Virtually November 29 - December 2

The 5th IHCC International Cohort Summit (ICS5) is less than 2 weeks away, November 29, 2022 – December 2, 2022. We are excited to see you all virtually and we have an amazing lineup of speakers from around the world:

45+ Speakers

5 of 7 Continents Represented

20+ Organizations Attending

The summit theme is “The journey to globally accelerate science, diversity, and global health in longitudinal population studies”. For more details, please see the final summit agenda linked here

We hope you have already registered for the summit, but if not, here is the registration link. Please note when registering, be sure to select the number of tickets as “1”.

The summit is free and open to the public. We hope to see you soon!

IHCC Cohort Spotlight: Uganda Genome Resource

Uganda Genome Resource (UGR)

Principal Investigator: Prof Segun Fatumo PhD, FHEA

The Uganda Genome Resource (UGR) is a well-characterized genomic resource that contains a variety of phenotypic communicable and non-communicable diseases and their risk factors derived from the Uganda General Population Cohort (GPC), a population-based open cohort founded in 1989. The UGR includes whole-genome sequence data on 2,000 Ugandan GPC individuals and genotyping data on 5,000 Ugandan GPC individuals representing ten ethnolinguistic groupings. Continue reading to learn more about the impactful work being done by this cohort.

IHCC Educational Webinar Series

virtual-meeting3

We have had 10 informative educational webinar series this year! Thank you to everyone who has participated in the monthly webinars thus far. IHCC is excited to have Dr. Peter Würtz and Dr. Jeffrey Barrett as our guest speakers for the upcoming webinar on December 15, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. EST, 2:00 p.m. UTC, titled  “Nightingale Biomarker Profiling Across Large Biobanks – from Molecular Insights to Advancing Preventative Health Screening”. Please click below to register for the webinar.

Our aim for this online series is to provide a forum for cohort members to exchange scientific ideas, best practices, and lessons learned; showcase cohorts’ accomplishments, emphasizing LMICs; share international funding opportunities; and more. Each month a different IHCC member will be featured as a guest speaker. Want to preview upcoming talks, register to participate, and even host your own? View our Educational Webinar Series webpage below to learn more.

IHCC Working Groups Meeting Schedule - Join Us!

Join a Working group! We need your unique perspective to achieve our goals.

IHCC currently has 4 active working groups that meet during the following times:

  • Data Standards and Infrastructure: monthly on the second Wednesday at 10:00 am EST (15:00 UTC)
  • Policy, System and Bio-Data Sharing: monthly on the second Wednesday at 9:00 am EST (14:00 UTC)
  • Scientific Strategy and Cohort Enhancements: bi-monthly on the third Monday at 9:00 am EST (14:00 UTC)
  • Training, Sharing and Capacity Development (NEW): Bi-weekly internal meetings only for now

Interested in joining a Working Group? Contact us at ihccinfo@ihccglobal.org and we’ll connect you to the team.

Not an IHCC member yet? Apply here to join our community!

IHCC is a program of GGMC, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) (tax-exempt in the U.S.) organization. Sponsorships and donations to help support our mission are greatly appreciated.

IHCC VISION

A global community of cohorts working together to advance science and improve health for all.

IHCC MISSION

To forge cohort connections that revolutionize population health science by providing sustainable data infrastructure, cultivating a collaborative research environment, and promoting policies and best practices that foster connectivity, interoperability, and reciprocity.

Join Our Community

Interested in becoming an IHCC member cohort? Submit your cohort information using the form below to become part of our community. Member cohort information is posted in our Member Cohorts Database. If you’re already an IHCC member cohort, but need to update your information, you may also do so using the form below.