NHSE has announced funding for eight new NHS Genomic Networks of Excellence, as follows:

• Prenatal Genomic Medicine 
• Circulating Tumour Biomarker Testing 
• Haemato-Oncology 
• NHS Rare and Inherited Disease 
• Severe presentation of Infectious Disease 
• Improving the identification and outcomes for individuals with inherited and acquired cardiovascular disease
• Pharmacogenomic and Medicines Optimisation
• Genomics Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

You can read more on our website.

The survey can be found here. It should take less than 10 minutes to complete and closes on 31 January 2024. Please share the survey link with any patients/patient groups and networks that you have contact with.

download and read the full framework here.

Podcasts

Each year at the end of February Rare Disease Day seeks to raise awareness of rare diseases and conditions, and the fact that they are individually rare but collectively much more common than people think (there are 3.5m people with a rare disease in the UK). The day also highlights many people's experience of what can often be a very long - sometimes decades long - journey to get a diagnosis/answers (often called the 'diagnostic odyssey').

This leap year Rare Disease Day is itself very rare, landing as it does on 29th February! We'll be sharing events, resources and patient stories in the run up to the day. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and connect with us on LinkedIn, and check out the news pages of our website throughout next month. In the meantime you can read some of our patient stories here, here and here. Information on genetic testing for rare and inherited disease can be found on our website here. Are you planning to mark Rare Disease Day within your Trust or Service? Let us know your plans and we'll help get the word out!

This new online, 2-week course launched by the National Genomics Education programme provides a comprehensive overview of genomic testing in cancer and aims to support clinicians in navigating the testing pathway, including how to use the National Genomic Test Directory, reading genomic reports and feeding back results to patients.

Learners will hear from genomics specialists and patients with lived experience of cancer, to help contextualise the scope and importance of genomic testing. Expert mentors will be on hand to provide support and answer questions.

For further details or to sign up, please visit the course page. NHS staff signing up from Monday 22 Jan should use this link, which provides a free, lifetime course upgrade.

Register here for this year’s Festival of Genomics and Biodata taking place at the ExCeL in London on 24 and 25 January.

Free for NHS staff, the Festival is an annual get-together for the entire genomics and biodata community to discover, meet, learn and celebrate. It promises inspirational speakers, the latest research and clinical breakthroughs, cutting-edge technology and incredible networking opportunities.

The Festival will feature over 270 inspirational speakers including NHS England’s Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Responsible Officer for Genomics, Professor Dame Sue Hill, and our very own East Genomics Midwifery Lead, Jo Hargrave, and Patient and Public Voice Panel Chair, Chris Hind. Find out more here.

We are delighted to offer one secured slot per Trust maternity diabetes team to attend the ‘monogenic diabetes in maternity’ study day in London on Thursday 22 February. These places are limited to one per Trust/site within the East Midlands and East of England. Please see our website for further information, including how to request a place.