Sarah Norcross, director of PET, was up with the larks to attend a breakfast meeting entitled 'The Importance of Genomics Research in Advancing the Growth Agenda'.
The event was organised by Public Policy Projects, whose chair Rt Hon Stephen Dorrell hosted a conversation with Genomics England's chief scientific officer Professor Matt Brown.
The discussion focused on how the UK can use its expertise in genomics to achieve global growth. While Professor Brown highlighted the opportunities for developing the UK as the centre for genomic research he also mentioned the constraints. For example, while NHS data is a valuable resource it is fragmented and difficult to access and use in genomic research.
The audience asked questions about GDPR, hard to reach communities, and a federated data platform. In his summing Stephen Dorrell warned that the UK's competitive advantage in genomics research is a perishable commodity. Therefore the time to encourage the government to invest in genomics research is now!
In the audience were lots of familiar faces, including Genomics England's Vivienne Parry, Tim Hubbard, director of ELIXIR, and Professor Sir Mark Caulfield, who have all spoken at PET events. Sarah was delighted to meet in person for the first time Samantha Barber from the charity Gene People.