EBP Phase II: Scaling Up

Meeting Agenda

May 6 - 8, 2026

Wednesday, May 6

7 pm Welcome Dinner at Browns Crafthouse UBC

6111 University Blvd #101, Vancouver, BC V6T 0C7

Thursday, May 7

8:30-9 am Breakfast (served in the meeting room)

9-9:30 am Welcome and Introduction

Speakers:

Harris Lewin, Arizona State University

Kerstin Howe, Wellcome Sanger Institute

9:30-10:30 am EBP Committee Presentations

Speakers:

1. ELSI - Krystal Tsosie, Arizona State University

2. JEDI - Sadye Paez, Rockefeller University

3. Sampling - Mara Lawniczak, Wellcome Sanger Institute

4. Sequencing and Assembly - Kerstin Howe, Wellcome Sanger Institute

5. Annotation - Françoise Thibaud-Nissen, NCBI

6. Data Analysis - Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Uppsala University and Broad Institute

7. IT - Xiaofeng Wei, China National GeneBank, Shenzhen (recording)

10:30-11:00 AM Break

11:00-12:30 pm Presentations: Existing Structures, Barriers and Opportunities to Scaling Up the Production of Reference Genomes

1. The Experience of Regional Nodes:

   a) Africa BioGenome Project - Bouabid Badaoui, Mohammed V University

   b) ERGA - Robert Waterhouse, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics

2. National Initiatives:

   a) Canada - co-presented by: Federica Di Palma and Steven Jones, Provincial Health Services Authority, Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre

   b) Chile - Juliana Vianna, Universidad Andrés Bello

3. Legal and Ethical Sample Acquisition at Scale - Hojun Song, Arizona State University

4. Sample Automation - Xin Zhou, University of Guelph

12:30-1:30 pm Lunch

1:30-3:00 pm

Discussion Session I
Lead: Mara Lawniczak, Wellcome Sanger Institute
Topic: How can we collect specimens for 300,000 species to allow us to sequence 150,000 species from 90,000 genera?

3:00-3:30 pm Break

3:30-5:00 pm

Discussion Session II
Lead: Erich Jarvis, Rockefeller University
Topic: What strategies can we use to scale up to producing 720 genome assemblies per week globally over the next 4 years?

5:00-5:30 pm

Optional Biodiversity Museum Tour

Tour guide – Director, Dr. Quentin Cronk

Room remains available for private discussions.

5:30-8:00 pm Dinner

Friday, May 8

7:30-8 am Breakfast

8-9 am Discussion Session III

Lead: Mark Blaxter, Wellcome Sanger Institute
Topic: What will sequencing globally at the rate of 720 genomes per week cost?

9-10 am Discussion Session IV

Co-Leads: Sadye Paez, Rockefeller University and Marcela Uliano-Silva, Wellcome Sanger Institute
Topic: How do we increase global participation in the EBP?

10-10:30 am Break

10:30-12 pm Discussion Session V

Lead: Harris Lewin, Arizona State University
Topic: What organizational structures and programs are necessary to deliver the Phase II goals?

12-1 pm Lunch

1-2 pm Discussion Session VI

Lead: Federica Di Palma, Provincial Health Services Authority, Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre
Topic: How are we going to raise 1 billion dollars to fund Phase II?

2-3 pm Closing Session and Summary

Speakers:

Harris Lewin, Arizona State University

Mark Blaxter, Wellcome Sanger Institute

Summary of discussions: key conclusions, action points, and next steps to be shared with EBP members.

3-4 pm Private Discussions

EBP Phase II Attendee list