Group Leader, Instrumentation Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at BC Cancer Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Description: I will discuss challenges and opportunities in automating sample preparation for sequencing cancer tumours, and how our lab has been able to meet evolving requirements of different gene panels, novel sequencers and issues emerging from improved performance such as cross contamination. As extraction and library construction have matured, we have also turned our attention to tumor enrichment, and are developing clinically practicable high speed laser dissection for slide mounted tissue. All this has been aided by operating in a cancer-hospital-connected lab that combines clinical and research functions, enabling significant research projects to address clinical problems.
Learning Objectives. - Key features of building a successful lab automation team and processes in a clinical lab. - How more precise tumor dissection can improve variant calling and limits of detection
