Oxford Nanopore User Group Meeting, Sydney
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Join us on 5th of March in Sydney, for an exciting series of talks from local researchers using nanopore sequencing. The agenda also includes a technical update from the Oxford Nanopore team, as well as a Q&A with the presenters and a product display.
Space is limited! Please register early to secure your spot.
Confirmed speakers
In alphabetical order
Dianne De Santis, President at Asia Pacific Histocompatbility & Immunogenetics Association and Clinical Scientist, PathWest
Javad Jamshid, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow Randwick Genomics NSW Health Pathology
Jessica Wright, Genomic Diagnostics
Jonathan Edgeworth, Professor of Clinical Infectious Diseases and Founding Director of CIDR, Kings College London
**Natalie Thorne **, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Genomical
Sebastian Lunke, Executive General Manager of Innovation in Genetics and Genomics, VCGS
Tony Roscioli, Staff Specialist in Clinical Genetics and Genomics, Randwick Genomics NSW Health Pathology
Speakers
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Dianne De Santis, PathWest, Fiona Stanley HospitalDr. Dianne De Santis is a Clinical Scientist at the Department of Clinical Immunology, PathWest, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Australia and a Fellow of the Faculty of Science, RCPA. She completed a PhD at the University of Western Australia investigating the role of Killer Immunoglobulin-like receptors in Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT). She currently oversees the Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation donor search program in Perth, Australia and is responsible for developing new technologies to improve HLA typing methods used in solid organ and HSCT matching algorithms. Dianne and her team were the first to publish a novel high resolution HLA typing method utilising single molecule sequencing on the Oxford Nanopore platform for deceased organ donor allocation. She is currently the Vice President of the Asia-Pacific Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Association (APHIA) and a councillor of the International Histocompatibility Workshop committee.
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Sebastian Lunke, Victorian Clinical Genetics ServicesA/Prof Sebastian Lunke is the Head of Division of Genetics and Genomics at the Victorian Clinical Genetics Services. His team at the Victorian Clinical Genetics Service constitutes one of the largest clinically accredited genetics and genomics laboratories in Australia, with a strong focus on translating novel technologies into clinical practise. He is also a co-lead of the Translational Genomics Research Group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
Clinical metagenomics aims to sequence bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic microbes in clinical samples to generate a comprehensive profile of all relevant pathogens in a single rapid test. In theory, this provides all the information clinical, infection control and public health teams need for decision-making in their different domains; however, although theoretically plausible and an attractive proposition, there are many implementation barriers that need addressing to realise this vision. In 2025, the UK NHS and UKHSA jointly embarked on a 3-year national programme to implement and evaluate a same-day respiratory metagenomic service for intensive care unit patients with severe infection on 30 hospital sites. The service has been established at 6 sites so far with a further 10 sites planned for 2026. Metagenomics has identified a range of culturable, fastidious and unculturable pathogens, most of which are common and expected but some more unusual or missed by standard testing. Initial treatment is being reproducibly optimised in around a quarter of patients across the different sites and about 2000 metagenomic datasets have been transferred to UKHSA for deeper analysis of potential emerging pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes through the mSCAPE programme. Alongside implementation, the network has been tasked with generating clinical and health economic evidence and progressing an accreditation and quality assurance framework to inform a commissioning decision in 2028. The talk will provide a broad update on progress and challenges, along with a personal perspective on what is needed to make linked clinical-public health metagenomic networks a practical global proposition.
Clinical metagenomics aims to sequence bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic microbes in clinical samples to generate a comprehensive profile of all relevant pathogens in a single rapid test. In theory, this provides all the information clinical, infection control and public health teams need for decision-making in their different domains; however, although theoretically plausible and an attractive proposition, there are many implementation barriers that need addressing to realise this vision. In 2025, the UK NHS and UKHSA jointly embarked on a 3-year national programme to implement and evaluate a same-day respiratory metagenomic service for intensive care unit patients with severe infection on 30 hospital sites. The service has been established at 6 sites so far with a further 10 sites planned for 2026. Metagenomics has identified a range of culturable, fastidious and unculturable pathogens, most of which are common and expected but some more unusual or missed by standard testing. Initial treatment is being reproducibly optimised in around a quarter of patients across the different sites and about 2000 metagenomic datasets have been transferred to UKHSA for deeper analysis of potential emerging pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes through the mSCAPE programme. Alongside implementation, the network has been tasked with generating clinical and health economic evidence and progressing an accreditation and quality assurance framework to inform a commissioning decision in 2028. The talk will provide a broad update on progress and challenges, along with a personal perspective on what is needed to make linked clinical-public health metagenomic networks a practical global proposition.
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Jonathan Edgeworth, Consultant Microbiologist , Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital
