Exploring Open Data: Outbreak Surveillance on an International Scale

Posted on July 14, 2016   by Microbiology Society

Open data has the potential to revolutionise microbial genomics. But in practice, many of the benefits of this technology remain untapped. So how can we achieve greater data sharing? Over the coming weeks, we’ll be featuring some highlights from a panel discussion on open data at the Annual Conference 2016.

 

This week, Dr Nick Loman discusses the effects of sharing genomic data in real time on a specific outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis in the UK. Through this sharing of genomic datasets, researchers were able to confirm that the cases were linked to a larger, national-scale outbreak, all linking to the same source.

Nick is an Independent Research Fellow with a medical background who aims to bridge the gap between clinical medicine and microbiology research and the understanding of evolution.

This panel was hosted by the PHG Foundation. You can read more about their approach to open data and their model for data sharing here.