Topic: Where do genomicists come from? Leveraging personal genomes to enhance genomics education
Abstract:
The growing deployment of genome sequencing is creating a corresponding need for a more genomically literate workforce and populace, a need that can only be satisfied through substantial improvements in our genomics pedagogy. In response, my colleagues and I offered a unique laboratory-style graduate genomics course at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, “Practical Analysis of Your Personal Genome” (PAPG), in which students optionally sequence and analyze their own whole genome. Our goal was to leverage personal relevance to increase students’ motivation and engagement, thus ultimately improving educational outcomes. In this talk I will describe the design of PAPG and the results of a companion multi-year research study evaluating student decision-making and the educational and psychological impacts of personal genome sequencing (PGS) in PAPG. While the data from PAPG and other similar classes is promising, the cost and complexity of educational PGS is prohibitive outside major academic (medical) centers. I will present the design of an upcoming J-term course that adapts PAPG for Middlebury. A growing number of individuals have made their own PGS and phenotypic data publicly available. By combining novel software tools with this public data we can implement relevant, real-world, hands-on exercises at much lower cost and complexity, opening highly experiential genomics education to many more learners.
Biography:
Michael Linderman, Ph.D., is a computer engineer and computational biologist working to accelerate medical genomics. Michael joined Middlebury College in 2016; previously he was a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. Michael earned his Ph.D. and M.S. from Stanford University in Electrical Engineering and his B.S. from Harvey Mudd College. At Mount Sinai, he was a co-investigator in HealthSeq, a study investigating the return of whole genome sequencing data to healthy individuals, and the co-developer and director of “Practical Analysis of Your Personal Genome”, a unique laboratory-style genomics course in which students have the option to sequence and analyze their own whole genome. His research interests include heterogeneous computing (GPGPU), genomic variant interpretation, structural variant genotyping, and genomics education for the public, patients and providers.
Michael’s Homepage, Google Scholar Profile, and PubMed “My Bibliography”.