Tonight I watched Zoe McDougall, VP Strategic Communications and Corporate Affairs at Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT), interview Rich Scott and Abdul Karim Sesay at London Calling 2023. Scott is a medic with Genomics England and was excited about using single-cell sequencing to learn about tumors. Sesay is from the MRC Unit in Gambia and spoke about building local capacity and responding in real time to outbreaks. Scott described partnerships and working with sites for the 100,000 Genomes project. This process involves considering partners and the availability of freezers for fresh samples, for example. Sesay desired work to increase the number of genomes using long-read sequencing in Gambia and other regions. Training requires interactions, and Sesay noted that maternal health is a global concern that can be addressed with ONT sequencing. Sesay thinks personalized medicine requires facilities and community connections. Sesay was also excited about the work done with long-read sequencing in the United Arab Emirates. They think high output data shared in an accessible way is an exciting goal. Both interviewees spoke about infrastructure needs and skill building opportunities through collaboration.
