Quaid-i-Azam University Delegation Visits Beijing Institute of Genomics

A five membered delegation led by the Dr. Javed Ashraf, Vice Chancellor, Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) visited Beijing Institute of Genomics recently to inaugurate an International Omics Data Sharing Project at BIG Data Centre, Beijing.

This project is based on the ongoing collaboration between BIGD and the National Center for Bioinformatics, Quaid-i-Azam University in Pakistan. The visit was in line with the previous visit of the Chinese delegate in July 2017 that included the principal investigator of this project, Prof. Yiming Bao. The aim of the project is to form an international omics data sharing consortium with core members from the countries and regions along the Belt and Road and build the largest publically accessible omics data repositories and omics knowledgebase in Asia.

The Pakistani delegate included the Co-Principal Investigator of the project Dr. Amir Ali Abbasi along with Dr. Bushra Mirza, Dr. Muhammad Shahab and Dr. Sajid Rashid, who effectively exchanged ideas and views on making this project an integral part of the one belt one road initiative.

The Omics Data Sharing initiative recruited Pakistan as a founding member and will function for three years duration. The project will also help train 15-20 Pakistani Ph.D. students in the field of Bioinformatics to get fully accustomed to Big Data forum and be a viable part of this project.