Together with BIOMINA, the Neuromics Support Facility, Adrem Data Lab, and the VIB Center for Molecular Neurology, we successfully hosted the Nanopore Research Day at the University of Antwerp.
The event brought together more than 100 participants from the University of Antwerp, Universitair Ziekenhuis Antwerpen, the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, and several external institutions. This strong turnout reflected the growing interest in nanopore sequencing across both fundamental and applied research domains.
Programme
The programme featured an excellent lineup of talks spanning a wide range of topics, including frontotemporal dementia, epigenetics, virology, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, HLA typing, the evolution of cyclids, cable bacteria, and more. This diversity clearly demonstrated how nanopore sequencing is being adopted across disciplines to address complex biological questions.
Collective effort
This event would not have been possible without the dedication of the organizing team. A sincere thank you to my co-organizers Mojca Strazisar, Eline Turcksin, Wouter De Coster, Nick de Vrij, Eduardo Alfaro B., and Julia Gauglitz, as well as our on-site support team, Ceder Dens and Charlotte Adams. Their combined efforts ensured a smooth, engaging, and welcoming event. And of course, I'm very grateful for the generous support of our sponsors: Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Avantor, Integrated DNA Technologies, Hologic Diagenode, Seqera, Omixon, Twist Bioscience, Agilent Technologies, and the University of Antwerp. Their support was essential in making this event a success.
Looking ahead
I really enjoyed co-organising this event, hosting a session, and talking to a lot of interesting colleagues. We plan on organising an even bigger iteration of this event. Nanopore sequencing is obviously here to stay, enabling research in different fields. Our research community in Flanders is doing some great research where Nanopore sequencing plays an important rould, and this should be showcased. Stay tuned!
