Congratulations to Jadee Neff, MD, PhD, Stefan Rentas, PhD, and Laboratory Genetics and Genomics Fellow, Ludmila Francescatto, PhD, for winning second place in the Bionano Innovator Research Grant competition. Their grant aims to improve current standard-of-care cytogenetic testing algorithms using optical genome mapping (OGM), which combines copy number variant (CNV) and structural variant (SV) analysis in a single assay.
Specifically, they plan to perform optical genome mapping on fresh-frozen CNS tumor and tissue lymphoma specimens. The award includes a Saphyr optical genome mapping instrument for use in our Molecular Pathology, Genetics and Genomics (MPGG) laboratories, as well as reagents and software to perform novel genomic analyses that they plan to compare against standard of care testing.
“We were overwhelmed by the number of submissions and the global scope of the interest in OGM,” commented Erik Holmlin, PhD, president and chief executive officer of Bionano. “All of the submissions were incredibly innovative and scientifically compelling. Selecting the winners was a tough and exhausting task for our review committee. The Bionano Innovator Research Grant program was established to attract applicants with projects that demonstrate exemplary vision and creativity in leveraging OGM and genomic technologies to tackle complex challenges. The winning projects exemplify these qualities, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in genomics research."
Kudos to the MPGG team!