The convergence of digital and biological information is transforming the way we share and report our research data and findings. Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary science with a pivotal role to manage and mine biological data for knowledge discovery.
Several independent bioinformatics investigators and agencies have taken steps to come together and work on the bioinformatics grand challenges at various levels from local to international, including the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB; https://www.iscb.org); the Global Organisation for Bioinformatics Learning, Education and Training (GOBLET; https://www.mygoblet.org); the Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET; https://www.apbionet.org); the European ELIXIR research infrastructure (https://elixir-europe.org); the BIOinformatics CLUb for Experimenting Scientists (Bioclues; https://bioclues.org); the Iberoamerican Society for Bioinformatics (SoIBio; https://wp.soibio.org), and the Pan African Bioinformatics Network (H3ABioNet, https://www.h3abionet.org). As such, we expand and complement existing efforts with the creation of the Bioinformatics Grand Challenges Consortium (BGCC) – aimed to foster international collaboration between institutions and organisations, including those mentioned above, to proactively and critically reflect on the future challenges and propose solutions. A grand challenge is defined as a complex problem that is difficult to solve and that cannot be simply resolved through the application of more funds, time, manpower and/or resources.
Individuals participating in the BGCC consortium, as experts in their respective domains, would participate in working committees of interest to discuss the various grand challenges relevant to bioinformatics, with the goal of defining the challenges, identifying proposed solutions, developing well-defined metrics (where possible) to allow for a progress charting, and making public the findings collaboratively.
BGCC’s policies will strive for inclusivity and diversity for a balanced view on the subject matter, producing living guide documents, updated on a need basis as the field evolves. An inspiration for this is the more than 50 years of virus taxonomy contribution to the community by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV; https://talk.ictvonline.org), which has the challenging task of developing, refining, and maintaining a universal virus taxonomy in the ever-changing landscape of science and discovery.
Bioinformatics education is the first grand challenge that BGCC attempted to define. We assembled a working group of experienced educators and trainers, recruited through their membership in and involvement with international and regional organisations dedicated to bioinformatics education and training—ISCB, GOBLET, APBioNET, ELIXIR, Bioclues, SolBio, and the H3ABioNet—to identify a consensus set of grand challenges in bioinformatics education and training.
BGCC Consortium Members (up-to-date as of 3 September 2022):
ASIA
Tan Tin Wee
Founding Convenor & Advisor, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET);
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore;
CEO, National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC), Singapore.Asif Khan
President, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET);
Member, Executive Board, Global Organisation for Bioinformatics Learning, Education and Training (GOBLET);
School of Data Sciences, Perdana University, Malaysia;
Bezmialem Vakif University, Turkey.Christian Schönbach
Vice President, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET);
Professor and Department Chair, School of Sciences and Humanities, Department of Biology, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan.Harpreet Singh
Secretary, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET);
Head, Department of Bioinformatics, Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya (HRMMV), India;
Executive Board, BIOinformatics CLUb for Experimenting Scientists (BIOCLUES), India.Ge Gao
Executive Committee, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET);
Principal Investigator, Peking University, China.Yun Zheng
Executive Committee, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET);
Professor, State Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research;
Institute of Primate Translational Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, China.Gitanjali Yadav
Executive Committee, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET);
Group Leader, National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), India;
Professor (Adjunct), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal;
Trustee, St Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge, U.K.Prashanth Suravajhala
Executive Committee, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET);
Principal Scientist, Amrita University, India;
Founding and Executive Board, BIOinformatics CLUb for Experimenting Scientists (BIOCLUES), India.Hilyatuz Zahroh
Executive Committee, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET);
Member, Board of Directors, Open Bioinformatics Foundation (OBF);
Researchers, Universitas YARSI, Indonesia.Kenta Nakai
Executive Committee, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET);
Professor, University of Tokyo, Japan.Maurice Ling
Honorary Director, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET) Limited;
Research Assistant Professor, Perdana University, Malaysia;
Lecturer, School of Applied Science, Temasek Polytechnic, SingaporeYam Wai Keat
Executive Committee, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET);
Senior Lecturer, International Medical University, Malaysia.Zeti Azura Mohamed Hussein
Executive Committee, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET);
Professor, Faculty of Science & Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.Esra Büşra Işık
Bezmialem Vakif University, Turkey;
Member, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET).
AFRICA
Nicola Mulder
Leader, H3ABioNET, Pan African Bioinformatics Network;
Professor and Head of Computational Biology Group, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
EUROPE
Cath Brooksbank
Head of Training, European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI).
Celia W.G van Gelder
Training Programme Manager, Dutch Techcentre for Life Sciences (DTL/ELIXIR-NL), Netherlands;
Chair of the Executive Board, Global Organisation for Bioinformatics Learning, Education and Training (GOBLET).Eija Korpelainen
Member, Executive Board, Global Organisation for Bioinformatics Learning, Education and Training (GOBLET);
Training Coordinator, ELIXIR-FI, Finland;
Product Manager, CSC – IT Centre for Science Limited.Javier De Las Rivas
Staff Scientist, Cancer Research Center Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas & University of Salamanca, Spain;
Executive Board, Global Organisation for Bioinformatics Learning, Education and Training (GOBLET).Patricia Palagi
Head of Training, SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics;
Chair Education COSI, International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB).Sarah Morgan
Scientific Training Coordinator, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI).
Venkata Pardhasaradhi Satagopam
Senior Researcher, Bioinformatics Core Group, the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), Luxembourg.
AUSTRALIA
Annette Mcgrath
Principal Research Scientist & Team Leader, Life Science Informatics, CSIRO, Australia;
Executive Board, Global Organisation for Bioinformatics Learning, Education and Training (GOBLET).Bruno Andre Gaeta
Advisor, Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNET);
Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science and Engineering, the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia.
NORTH AMERICA
Michelle D. Brazas
Associate Director, Adaptive Oncology & Program Manager, Genome Informatics and Computational Biology, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research;
Secretariat, Executive Board & Member, Board of Directors, International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB).Russell Schwartz
Professor and Head, Computational Biology Department, Carnegie Mellon University;
Vice President, Board of Directors, International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB).