Recap: The 2026 MGI Symposium
On Friday, September 18, 71 participants gathered for the annual Michigan Genomics Initiative Symposium, creating opportunities to share research, exchange ideas, and build connections across the University of Michigan’s genomics and health communities. Attendees represented approximately 18 schools and departments across the university.
“The MGI team opened the floor to Q&A from the audience and asked for feedback on what types of whole genome sequence-based data MGI should consider developing in the future. MGI has made an ongoing effort to use the symposium as an opportunity to hear directly from users about what data would be most useful to them, and has used this feedback in the past to develop new data offerings.”
Keynote speaker Bogdan Pasaniuc, PhD, professor of genetics and director of the Center for Computational Biomedicine at the University of Pennsylvania, explored the promises and challenges of biobanks for precision health, including genetic ancestry methods, polygenic risk scores, and the return of medically actionable results. The program also featured research presentations highlighting the breadth of genomics research utilizing data from the Michigan Genomics Initiative.
It was a day of thoughtful discussion and an opportunity to see the impact of MGI data across a range of research areas.
“The MGI team opened the floor to Q&A from the audience and asked for feedback on what types of whole genome sequence-based data MGI should consider developing in the future,” said Brett Vanderwerff, genetic data analyst at AI&DHI. “MGI has made an ongoing effort to use the symposium as an opportunity to hear directly from users about what data would be most useful to them, and has used this feedback in the past to develop new data offerings.”