​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​2023 GenomeTrakr Meeting | ​October 24–​25, ​​​2023

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) in collaboration with the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) and the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN), University of Maryland (UMD)​ will convene the 2023 ​GenomeTrakr Meeting from October 24-25, 2023 in College Park, MD. This will be an in-person meeting only.

The meeting will bring together public health and university laboratories who contribute to the FDA’s GenomeTrakr network. Meeting participants will hear updates from FDA and GenomeTrakr collaborators, network with their peers, discuss best practices and common challenges, and learn about how their data is utilized to detect and speed up the response to foodborne outbreak investigations.

Attendees​​​

This is an "invitation only" meeting. The email providing the registration link will serve as the invitation to the meeting. If you have not receive​​d an invitation to attend this meeting, please do not continue with the registration process. You will not be admitted. Do not send any information regarding this meeting to non-GenomeTrakr partners or individuals outside of the network. If you did not receive an invite, but feel you should be on the list, please reach out to APHL at foodsafety@aphl.org​​.

Meeting Registration​​

Registration is now open. Advance registration through APHL is required to attend the ​GenomeTrakr Meeting, but registration is complimentary for all attendees.​

Register for the general 2023 GenomeTrakr Meeting​​​

​Additional Trainings and Events

​Data Analysis Trainings

There will be two data analysis trainings, conducted in collaboration with JIFSAN-UMD. Seats are limited to 25 attendees. A waitlist will be available.

  • ​Advanced Metagenomics Analysis Training​

    Monday, October 23, 2023 | 12:00–5:00 pm ET​

  • Introduction to WGS Analysis Training (included in the MiSeq Laboratory Training)
    Thursday, October 26, 2023 | 9:00 am – 5:00 pm ET​

Register for Data Analysis Trainings​​​

Metadata Cleanup Challenge

Tuesday, October 24, 2023 | 8:30 am  12:00 pm ET | The Hotel at UMD

Join us for a hackathon-style event, the Metadata Cleanup Challenge, focused on standardizing and enhancing NCBI contextual data for enteric pathogen surveillance. This event is organized by FDA's GenomeTrakr team, NCBI and APHL. 

The Metadata Cleanup Challenge aims to bring together data submission leads from GenomeTrakr-associated laboratories, including LFFM-funded laboratories, partners, and collaborators. Together, we will focus on enhancing and standardizing the metadata associated with BioProject, BioSample and SRA records, significantly improving the quality and usefulness of our NCBI pathogen database.​

Draft agenda:​​​

  • Introduction to NCBI data curation
  • Training on updating BioProject, BioSample and SRA records
  • Working exercise: cleanup and standardize a pre-determined set of attributes (to be distributed in advance)
  • Submission and processing of updates with onsite assistance from NCBI collaborators

Advanced registration is not required to participate for GenomeTrakr Me​​​eting attendees.​

​Laboratory Training: Illumina MiSeq Workflow and Data Analysis for Whole Genome Sequencing​​​

October 23, 2023 | 8:30 am – 5:00 pm ET — Wet Lab
October 24, 2023 | 8:30 am – 12:00 pm ET — Wet Lab
October 26, 2023 | 9:00 am – 5:00 pm ET — Introduction to WGS Data Analysis

JIFSAN-UMD, FDA​​

Join us for a workshop designed specifically for GenomeTrakr participants, focusing on the laboratory procedures for Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) utilizing the Illumina MiSeq instrument. NGS technology revolutionizes our ability to explore the complete genomic content of target organisms, making it an invaluable tool for characterizing bacterial isolates during foodborne outbreak investigations.

During the workshop, you will have the opportunity to gain hands-on training in the wet laboratory portion, where you will learn and perform essential skills such as DNA quality control (QC), library preparation using the Nextera DNA Prep kit, loading samples onto the MiSeq instrument, and evaluating the MiSeq run for optimal sequencing outcomes.

The introductory data analysis sessions will provide training on sequence and assembly quality control, NCBI data submission and basic whole genome sequencing (WGS) data analysis. ​

Note: Applications are no longer being accepted for this training.

​General Meeting Information​

Travel

​​The GenomeTrakr meeting will commence at 12:00 pm ET on Tuesday, October 24 and adjourn at 3:00 pm ET on Wednesday, October 25. Please plan on taking flights that depart after 5​:00 pm ET on October 25. Participants are strongly encouraged to attend all sessions and avoid early departures.​

Fun​​​ding

FDA-funded grantees are expected to use their Cooperative Agreement funds to support travel, lodging and other per diem expenses associated with participating in this meeting.

COVID-19 Protocols​​

In an effort to keep everyone safe and healthy, we highly encourage all meeting attendees to wear well-fitting masks (preferably KN95 or better) throughout the meeting. We ask that all attendees COVID test themselves prior to the start of the meeting. Extra masks are available at the Registration desk. If you begin to feel unwell, please go to the Registration desk or find an APHL staff member as soon as possible. There are a limited number of COVID-19 rapid test kits available for anyone who begins to feel unwell during the meeting. You may want to bring your own tests with you to have in your hotel room.​​

​Consent to ​Use Photographic Images

Registration and attendance at participation at this meeting constitutes an agreement by the registrant to FDA's and APHL's use and distribution (both now and in the future) of the registrant's or attendees' image or voice, without compensation, in photographs, videotapes, electronic reproduction and audiotapes of such events and activities.

Hot​el

​APHL has negotiated a block of rooms at ​$189.00 per night at the Hotel at the University of Maryland​. This is below the federal per diem. Reservations are available on a first come, first served basis and are valid until Thursday, October 5, 2023 or until the block is filled. You may call 301.277.7777 and mention "2023 GenomeTrakr Meeting" or make an online reservation. This block may fill up quickly so be sure to make your reservations early. APHL has secured several rooms at the discounted rate on October 26, as well, reserved for individuals who are attending trainings and unable to depart on Thursday afternoon.

The Hotel at the University of Maryland 
7777 Baltimore Ave., College Park, MD 20740 
301.277.7777 | www.thehotelumd.com​

​​​​​​​​​Contact Us

If you have questions about the program, please contact Rhodel Bradshaw at foodsafety@aphl.org​ or 240.485.3828. 

If you have questions or problems regarding registration, please contact Terry Reamer at terry.reamer@aphl.org or 240.485.2776. ​