This week, I’ll be traveling to the American Society of Human Genetics Meeting in San Diego, CA. This is a massive meeting, and while I love it, I sometimes find it hard to meet friends, colleagues, and blog readers. So here’s where to find me in San Diego this week. As usual, you can catch me tweeting as @MassGenomics on the #ASHG18 hashtag, but here’s where I’ll be in person:
Tuesday 10/16
I’m arriving around lunch time, and plan to check in before heading over to the convention center for the ASHG Presidential Address. This is also the publication day for Putting the Science in Fiction, my nonfiction book with Writers Digest, so I’ll probably be huddled over my laptop most of the afternoon.
Wednesday 10/17
In the morning, I’m splitting my time between two platform sessions: Variant Insights from Large Population Datasets (#6) and New Frontiers in Computational Genomics (#11).
Late morning, I’m intrigued by two invited sessions: Achieving Genomics Literacy for the Masses (#15) and Uncovering Missing Heritability in Mendelian Diseases (#22).
Over lunch, I’m going to check out the Congenica event on The Importance of Early Diagnosis in Rare Disease.
After that, I’ll check out a lot of the posters and then spend the rest of the afternoon in Session #28, Sequencing-based Diagnostics for Newborns and Infants. That evening, The Ohio State University is hosting the Scarlet & Gray reception, so that’s a good place to find me.
Thursday, 10/18
This is my busiest day. It starts with a coffee discussion on the Future of Pediatric Genomic Testing (session #28). Then I’m looking forward to platform session #44: Comprehensive Descriptions of Genetic Architecture of Rare Diseases. Leading off is Anne O’Donnell-Luria with an update on Mendelian gene discovery in over 22,000 families from worldwide populations. I’ve heard her before, and she’s fantastic.
From 11-12:30, I’m moderating session #51: What are We Missing? Identification of Previously Underappreciated Mendelian Variants with Zeynep Coban Akdemir of Baylor. We have a fantastic lineup so I hope you’ll come out and ask some great questions (so I don’t have to).
After that I’ll be gearing up for the afternoon poster session. Please come see me at 3:00-4:00 pm at poster 1108 in the Mendelian Phenotypes section if you’re interested in how research genomics expands the genetic etiology and phenotypic spectrum of rare pediatric conditions.
Thursday evening, I’m participating in a special offsite event. Mysterious Galaxy, a well-known independent bookstore, will host an author panel on science and science fiction from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. The panelists are four contributing authors to Putting the Science in Fiction, and we’ll be signing books afterward. Please come by, join the discussion, and support a fantastic local bookstore.
Friday, 10/19
There’s a lot of good stuff in the morning sessions. I’ll split my time between Session #68: Enhancers and Noncoding Regions and #69: Using RNA-seq to Improve DNA Sequence Interpretation.
The late morning invited sessions seem… weird. There are no invited sessions featuring large-scale sequencing at this year’s ASHG meeting, which I find extremely disappointing. Especially since two such sessions were proposed but not ultimately selected by the Program Committee. I hope that they’ll do better next year.
On the bright side, there look to be some interesting talks in plenary abstract session II, which will probably round out my attendance at ASHG this year. I’m scheduled for a flight home that night (coming back to Eastern time will be rough).
So, that’s my schedule. Hope to see you in San Diego!
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