PrecisionLife is holding a BioHackathon for UCL researchers to use data generated by PrecisionLife platform to help answer some of the top 10 ME/CFS research priorities that have been set by the ME/CFS Priority Setting Partnership.
BioHackathons bring together different groups of domain experts and specialized computer scientists with various experience and skills to “hack” solutions related to a biomedical topic.
Working in collaboration with Professor Chris Ponting (University of Edinburgh), Dr Eleanor Roberts and Dr David Newton (ME Research UK), Sonya Chowdhury (Action for ME), and Sylwia Wasiak (UCL), PrecisionLife has designed a brief for UCL researchers with a data science, biology, or medical background to tackle three key questions for the ME/CFS community:
- Which existing drugs used to treat other conditions might be useful for treating ME/CFS?
- Is ME/CFS caused by a faulty immune system? Is ME/CFS an autoimmune condition?
- How are mitochondria, responsible for the body’s energy production, affected in ME/CFS? Could this understanding lead to new treatments?
The event takes place on Friday 23 February and will be hosted by Sylwia Wasiak of UCL Careers, along with Krystyna Taylor and Sayoni Das of PrecisionLife, who led the company’s recent research into genotype data from ME/CFS patients which revealed the first replicable genetic findings in over 30 years of study into the condition, identifying 14 new genes associated with ME/CFS.
“This BioHackathon is an excellent opportunity for researchers to address healthcare challenges and work with peers to collaboratively generate solutions and advance our understanding of ME/CFS. We would like to thank UCL for their time, interest, and enthusiasm for making the event happen. We’re excited to work together with their researchers to make a difference to people’s lives.”
Dr Sayoni Das, SVP Bioinformatics, PrecisionLife
“ME Research UK is thrilled to be involved in this BioHackathon exploring the research priorities for ME/CFS. The charity firmly believes that high-quality biomedical research is the only way to get to the bottom of this misunderstood disease, and collaborations like this are an excellent opportunity to tackle some of the key issues.”
Dr David Newton, Research Director, ME Research UK
"UCL Careers is very excited to host this BioHackathon. Working in collaboration with PrecisionLife, Professor Chris Ponting, ME Research UK, and Action ME, UCL researchers will address questions that matter to the ME/CFS community. This great collaborative effort between industry, academia and patient charities will hopefully bring us closer to contributing to the development of future treatments improving the lives of people affected by this debilitating and misunderstood disease."
Sylwia Wasiak, UCL Careers
Three groups of researchers, each addressing one of the key questions above, will present their findings at the end of the BioHackathon.
We will share highlights from each group’s research through the PrecisionLife Twitter/X and LinkedIn accounts after the event.
Follow us on Twitter/X or LinkedIn for further updates.
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