Part 1: Big data for biomedical sciences (Tom Hancocks)
Ten years ago witnessed the completion of the first international 'Big Biology' project that sequenced the human genome. In the years since biological sciences, have seen a vast growth in data. In the coming years advances will come from integration of experimental approaches and the translation into applied technologies is the hospital, clinic and even at home. This talk will examine the development of infrastructure, physical and virtual, that will allow millions of life scientists across Europe better access to biological data
Tom studied Human Genetics at the University of Leeds and McMaster University, before completing an MSc in Analytical Genomics at the University of Birmingham. He has worked for the UK National Health Service in diagnostic genetics and in training healthcare scientists and clinicians in bioinformatics. Tom joined the EBI in 2012 and is responsible for the scientific development and delivery of training for the BioMedBridges project.
Part 2: EBI for non-biologists (Jose M. Dana))
Bioinformatics is a relatively new field and, as such, many computer scientists/engineers are reluctant to contribute to it as they feel that a high knowledge of biology is required. Although a good knowledge of the science behind the data is always preferable, it is not compulsory. In this talk I'll try to show, using my own experience, how it is possible to get involved without a degree in biology or bioinformatics;
Jose studied at Universidad de Almeria (Spain) where he obtained a M.Eng. in Computer Engineering. He was selected for the CERN Summer Student Programme 2005, spending 3 months at the CERN openlab working on compilers and software optimization. In 2006 he joined the CERN openlab again, being involved in compilers, high performance computing, software optimization and Grid Computing development. He was also involved in the organization of the CERN openlab Summer Student Programme from 2007 to 2009. In 2010 he joined the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) as Senior Software Engineer