June 2021
G2MC members are invited and encouraged to actively participate in G2MC projects and initiatives by getting involved in G2MC Working Groups and Flagship Projects. Use the G2MC Get Involved form to indicate your interest in participation or to join our community if you’re not a G2MC member.
G2MC is committed to fostering the growth of young investigators in the field of genomic medicine. Through the implementation of a Young Investigators Forum at our G2MC international conferences and the development of a Young Investigators Subcommittee in 2020, we hope to provide opportunities for our members to mentor and cultivate young talent in genomic medicine implementation all over the world.
Dr. Nafeesa Noordeen, a member of the G2MC Young Investigators Subcommittee, is originally from Sri Lanka. Her work is primarily at the Human Genetics Institute at the University of Colombo, where she teaches a Master’s course in Molecular Pathology to medical doctors and scientists, with a focus on subjects including Molecular Genetics and Genomics. Dr. Noordeen also has a keen interest in developing CME material for clinicians.
Members of the G2MC Family Health History Flagship Project comprise mostly of healthcare providers who come from all parts of the world. As a group, they have learned that they all want to expand the use of family health history (FHH) in clinical care. But they also have learned that, beyond paper, many are not yet using electronic-based tools that help capture, analyze, and inform the clinicians about their patient’s inherited risk for disease. Read more to learn how this group is working together to address this issue.
The 6th G2MC International Conference is scheduled for September 29 – October 1, 2021, to be held as a virtual conference due to ongoing COVID-related travel and health guidance. The planning committee has selected a virtual platform to host the conference which will allow for interactive sessions and networking opportunities. The planning committee is also in the process of securing an expert lineup of speakers from across the globe and planning the details of the Young Investigators Forum and a new Seed Award competition. Registration is now open! The registration link and provisional agenda are available on the conference event page.
Please note that while past conferences have been free of charge to attend, we will be implementing a nominal registration fee this year. The registration fee will help cover meeting expenses, and also help support G2MC as a non-profit organization through funding impactful activities that align with our mission of genomic medicine implementation worldwide. Registration fees will be waived or reduced for individuals who fall into specific categories (as detailed on the registration page) so we can ensure diverse and inclusive participation.
We are excited to announce that this year, as part of the 6th International Conference, G2MC is instituting Seed Funding Awards – a strategy that will allow organizations to pledge funds to support the development of G2MC-led pilot projects or programs that promote genomic medicine in low resource settings and LMICs. Proposals for the seed funding will be developed within the G2MC working groups in collaboration with their respective members, and the details of developing and choosing the proposals to be submitted will be discussed collaboratively within the scheduled working group meetings. The goal is to have G2MC working groups present projects for possible funding as part of the meeting in September. Projects will be selected for funding based on evaluation of the presentations by a defined group of G2MC leaders and sponsors. G2MC leadership is soliciting sponsors to commit to funding projects, in the range of $25,000 to $50,000, that they evaluate as favorable, and G2MC is committed to identifying other funding sources to submit applications for favorably evaluated projects.
As we will be meeting virtually, our goal for this 6th International Conference is to develop the pilot project ideas in the months leading up to September, and select the one, or few, that will be presented during the last session for evaluation.
G2MC is excited to continue our tradition of hosting a Young Investigators Forum (YIF) as part of the 6th International Conference to foster new talent in genomics implementation. The submission criteria has been expanded to include both abstracts and project proposals in need of mentorship and/or funding to be implemented. Young Investigators who wish to participate are encouraged to submit abstracts of their original work OR proposals for projects they wish to complete by August 20, 2021. More information can be found on the Young Investigators Forum webpage. G2MC members are encouraged to share this information with Young Investigators who may be interested in participating.
The G2MC Development Committee is requesting for G2MC members to share potential funding opportunities, to be posted on the website and highlighted in our newsletters, with the goal of allowing other members the opportunity to consider collaborative proposals to answer them. Please submit ideas using the G2MC Contact form.
G2MC co-chair, George P. Patrinos (Department of Pathology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences) is co-leading a project aimed to address the major challenges and obstacles for the implementation of point-of-care pharmacogenomics testing in patient care in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Continue reading to learn more about this first prospective PGx clinical study in the Middle East and SE Asia.
G2MC partner program, the International Hundred K+ Cohorts Consortium (IHCC), held the first meeting of their new IHCC Educational Webinar Series in April 2021. With the ultimate goal to bring cohorts together to enhance information-sharing and collaboration, this online series aims 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. Visit the IHCC website to learn more about this free webinar series and to register for upcoming meetings.
Visit G2MC’s Functional Groups webpage for more information about the mission and activities of these groups and to learn how you can get involved.
The Young Investigator Subcommittee is continuing planning for the Young Investigators Forum – a component of the 2021 G2MC International Conference. The committee has extended the deadline for the forum abstract submissions and also, opened the call for grant proposals towards a specific mentor or Working Group in order for the Young Investigators to engage in a fruitful mentorship experience.
The Evidence Working Group has been conducting an evidence review of the clinical utility of genomic medicine. The group is in the process of analyzing the results of the manual literature search and drawing conclusions, and will next engage with technology partners to develop an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system that will allow for better refined searches and automatic updates in the areas deemed significant from the systematic review.
A manuscript discussing the distribution and results of the Education Needs Assessment Survey has been prepared and is nearing completion. Pending final reviews from the G2MC leadership, the manuscript will be submitted for publication. The group is also continuing the planning of the Genomic Medicine Immersion Course which will now take place virtually as part of the 2021 G2MC International Conference. Other course and workshop opportunities are also being considered.
The Policy Working Group co-chairs have recently convened and are enthusiastic about regrouping with the working group to reinvigorate the policy workstream. A review of the policies listed on the Genomic Medicine Policy website is currently underway to identify any gaps and to inform suggestions to the working group on potential areas for focus. The group will also begin to investigate opportunities to align and combine policy efforts with other genomic medicine organizations to share best practices. Finally, the group plans to form a group to create a white paper on how genomics has informed public health policy decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Family Health History Flagship Project is undertaking several initiatives to identify and share models and tools that will help expand the use of family health history (FHH) in clinical care, while identifying opportunities to streamline efforts. During the most recent FHH team meeting, a member of the Global Alliance for Genomics & Health (GA4GH) Pedigree Subgroup joined to discuss the group’s current initiatives and discuss potential collaboration opportunities with the FHH project team.
Currently, a member of the FHH project team is working to create an online survey tool to collect and share FHH use cases. The survey is nearing completion and will be shared with the G2MC membership to submit local FHH use cases. Additionally, other FHH team members are actively engaging with the group by sharing locally established tools – such as the MiGene Family History App – and working with the group on initiatives to further develop and expand the use of these tools. Visit the G2MC Family Health History webpage for more information and opportunities to get involved.
The Pharmacogenomics Flagship Project is working on gathering existing evidence in the field of pharmacogenomics. Evidence collected will inform an effort for generating harmonized guidelines for pharmacogenomics in clinical use – an area that is already under exploration but can potentially be advanced further through the efforts of the flagship project. Volunteers are currently being solicited to join this initiative.
The Rare Undiagnosed Diseases Flagship Project is continuing to work towards implementing evidence-based exome sequencing for the diagnosis of rare uncharacterized and undiagnosed diseases in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The group is actively seeking monetary and in-kind support to help carry out the project. To date, the research plan is nearly complete and includes descriptions of over 20 sites in LMICs that have volunteered to participate in the project. A budget is being prepared and the project team has had meetings with individual sites to estimate what is needed to implement the project.
Additionally, the flagship project team is assessing additional opportunities to advance the rare disease program that require minimum funding. Potential opportunities include workshops on exome sequencing and monthly clinical case meetings. The flagship project team plans to seek assistance from the Education Working Group to implement such initiatives.
Interested in becoming a member of G2MC? Our community is comprised of health professionals, scientists, and policy makers in over 35 countries. We collaborate to demonstrate the value and the effective use of genomics in medicine. Join us to share and learn best practices.
