Curating the Clinical Genome

We are pleased to announce the 9th Curating the Clinical Genome conference, designed to unite the international clinical genomics and biodata communities. This event will foster discussions on best practices for the clinical use of genomic data, including variant interpretation, clinical utility, and the generation of consensus-curated knowledge.

The sharing of genetic data from clinical diagnostic testing and the development of consensus-curated knowledge are essential to realising the promise of genomic medicine. This conference will bring together leading international and national initiatives to establish common standards, share best practices, integrate recent research, and ultimately drive improvements in patient care.

This year’s programme will provide key updates on variant classification guidelines and tools and will include discussions on developments in population and newborn genome screening, non-coding and somatic variations. Sessions will also highlight functional genomics, including multiplex assays of variant effect (MAVEs) and their applications in clinical settings.

The event will be of interest to a wide range of medical genomics researchers, clinicians, clinical scientists practising genomic medicine, companies developing solutions for clinical genomics, and data scientists interested in genomic data sharing. We encourage all professionals in the clinical genomics field to attend and engage in this important knowledge exchange.

In addition to expert presentations, the programme will feature panel discussions, short oral presentations selected from abstracts, poster sessions, and poster pitch talks for a productive and engaging meeting.

The conference will start at approximately 12.00 on Wednesday, 11 June and close at 13.00 on Friday, 13 June 2025.

Discussions will focus on a variety of exciting topics, including:

• Recommendations for variant classification
• Tools and resources for variant classification
• Non-coding variation and regulation
• Somatic variation
• MAVEs and functional genomics
• Population and newborn genome screening (panel discussion)

A draft programme will be available shortly.

Scientific programme committee

Leslie Biesecker
NIH-National Human Genome Research Institute, USA

Sofia Douzgou Houge
Haukeland University Hospital, Norway

Julia Foreman
EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute, UK

Aimé Lumaka
University of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Keynote speaker

Heidi Rehm
Broad Institute, USA

Confirmed speakers to date

Stefan Barakat
Erasmus University, the Netherlands

David Bick
Genomics England, UK

Alexander Dingemans
Radboud University, the Netherlands

Miranda Durkie
Sheffield Diagnostic Genetics Service, UK

Irene Gallego Romero
University of Melbourne, Australia

Steven Harrison
Ambry Genetics, USA

Veronica Kinsler
Francis Crick Institute, UK

Elizabeth Radford
University of Cambridge, UK

Predrag Radivojac
Northeastern University, USA

Malte Spielmann
University of Lübeck & Kiel University, Germany

Organisers – Wellcome Connecting Science

Amy Pass, Events manager
Nagehan Ramazanoglu Bahadir, Programme developer

Registration deadline: 13 May (in person) | 3 June 2025 (virtual)

The in-person registration fee includes:

• Full access to scientific programme: oral and poster presentations, and networking on campus
• Access to the online conference portal to network with online participants
• Meals (lunch and dinner) and refreshments during the conference. Breakfast will be provided for delegates who have booked onsite accommodation.
• Recordings of the live-stream sessions, which will be available ‘on-demand’ for four weeks after the event ends

Virtual registration fee includes:

• Access to the virtual event portal (Log in details will be emailed a few days before the event starts)
• Live-stream sessions, including posters and online networking channels
• Recordings of the live-stream sessions, available ‘on-demand’ for four weeks after the event ends.

* To promote more inclusive scientific discussions with international colleagues at our conferences, virtual delegates based in Lower and Middle-Income Countries can register for free (see list of countries here).

If you are an editor or journalist, please contact the conference organiser for more information about the discounted fee or media pass.

Accommodation
Booked accommodation is for the nights of 11 and 12 June 2025.
Please note: there is limited onsite accommodation and this will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis; therefore, early registration is recommended.

If you wish to book campus accommodation either side of the conference dates, please contact the Hinxton Hall Conference Centre directly.

Accommodation services phishing scam – please be vigilant. More information.

Travel visas
Citizens of many countries can travel to the UK to attend a course or conference without needing a visa. Please check the UK government website for visitor information: https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor.

Confirmed attendees requiring a letter to support a visa application should contact the event organiser.

Bursaries

Bursary deadline: 18 March 2025

Wellcome Connecting Science offers registration bursaries (usually up to 50% of the registration fee) to those who would benefit from attending the conference but face financial barriers to attending events. Priority is usually given to PhD students, applicants from lower and middle income countries, or those from underrepresented / minoritised groups. Other early career researchers will be considered if funds allow. We strongly encourage applicants to submit an abstract on their research results or ongoing project before the bursary deadline. Final edits can be made to the abstract up until the abstract deadline. Bursary applications without abstracts will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

To apply for funding support, please register and then select that you want to apply for a bursary. This will direct you to the online application form. Please be prepared to explain why you need support and how you will benefit from attending the conference. Once you have submitted the application form, you will be emailed an abstract portal link. Please use this to submit an abstract before bursary deadline.

Additional funding opportunities

Visit our support page for information on financial support, including carer grants to help delegates with the costs of caring for children or dependent family members while attending a course or a conference.

Abstract deadline: 15 April 2025

We welcome abstracts from all areas relevant to the main themes of the meeting, for both oral and poster presentations. Several oral presentations will be chosen from the abstracts submitted. Presenters of oral presentations are expected to be onsite for the duration of the conference, whereas those presenting posters can do so in person or virtually.

To submit an abstract, you must first register for the conference. Once your registration is completed, you will be emailed a link to submit to the abstract submission portal. If you wish to edit your abstract following submission, please use the link in the abstract acknowledgement email.

All abstracts must be submitted and, if desired, edited by the deadline. The scientific programme committee will then assess your abstract and you will be notified about 2 weeks after the deadline whether you have been selected to present an oral or poster presentation. If you require acknowledgment that your abstract has been accepted earlier than this, please contact the event organiser.

Poster boards onsite will accommodate 118 cm high by 84 cm wide (A0-portrait) of printed material. Accepted abstracts will appear in the conference programme book; poster board numbers will be allocated at the conference.

All those accepted for a poster presentation will also have the opportunity present a ~1 min ‘poster pitch’ summarising their work.

If you are interested in supporting this meeting, please contact us.

For more information about the benefits of having a presence at this meeting, see our sponsorship page .

Harnessing our Common African Genomic Variation to Improve Health Globally

Keynote lecture by Ambroise Wonkam, John Hopkins University, USA

Feedback from our Curating the Clinical Genome conference in 2023:

“The event was extremely well run with a very relevant selection of speakers and posters, and I especially liked the way the poster session was organised – the poster pitches gave a really good summary of what was being presented.”

“The overall structure of the meeting was excellent (singular agenda, time for networking, on-site accommodation). A specifically great element of this meeting was the layout of the dining area which almost forces networking with new folks at each meal.”

“I loved how speakers also shared challenges that they faced in their research group and approaches they took to ‘solve’ or’work around’ the challenge. It broadened my insight on the topic and broadened my understanding that it isn’t always a cut and dry solution to curating the clinical genome.”