This week nearly 300 people attended the three-day 2017 ELSI Congress on “Genomics and Society: Expanding the ELSI Universe” on the campus of UConn Health and The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine.

ELSI Congress Kicks Off

Hundreds of attendees start checking-in for the 2017 ELSI Congress at UConn Health's new Academic Entrance of UConn School of Medicine on the early morning of June 5 (Photo: UConn Health/Janine Gelineau).

Welcome to #ELSICON

UConn Health's UConn School of Medicine's new Academic Rotunda welcomed nearly 300 attendees from around the world on the morning of June 5 to kick off the 2017 ELSI Congress "Genomics and Society: Expanding the ELSI Universe" (Photo: JAX).

Welcome by Columbia's Dr. Paul Appelbaum

Dr. Paul Appelbaum of Columbia University Medical Center welcomes the ELSI Congress attendees sharing: "The ELSI Universe is growing and we embrace that growth" (Photo: Jared Skolnick/JAX).

JAX CEO Dr. Ed Liu on Genomic Advances

Dr. Ed Liu, president and CEO of The Jackson Laboratory spoke to the gathered ELSI Congress about when it comes to genomics advances, he said:"One of the most exciting challenges are adjacency, speed and integration." He added: "Expanding the ELSI Universe is exactly the right way that you are going. The importance of your discussions will have huge implications in a remarkably short time" (Photo: Jared Skolnick/JAX).

NIH's Stephanie Devaney Keynote Address

Stephanie Devaney, Ph.D., deputy director of the All of Us Research Program at the NIH giving the keynote address at the 2017 ELSI Congress. She spoke about the goals of the All of Us precision medicine initiative to enroll 1 million volunteers. "It is our charge to develop a resource for any or all diseases. Data from the program will be broadly accessible to empower research." In addition, she shared how the program will be a catalyst for research innovations including for ELSI. "We have a number of ELSI priorities," she shared. The All of Us research program hopes to promote health equity, learn more by working with special populations, and to evaluate the impact of its activities (Photo: Jared Skolnick/JAX).

Spotlight on NIH All of US Research Program

Keynote Speaker Stephanie Devaney educated the ELSI Congress about the NIH's All of Us Research Program. Learn more at: http://today.uconn.edu/school-stories/genomics-heart-us/ (Photo: Jared Skolnick/JAX).

Large Turnout for ELSI Congress

Nearly 300 physicians, geneticists, genetic counselors, social scientists and lawyers, in academia, government and industry from across the U.S. and several other countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Norway attended the three-day ELSI Congress (Photo: Jared Skolnick/JAX).

Plenary Talk by Harvard's Pearl O'Rourke

Pearl O’Rourke from Harvard Medical School gave a plenary talk on the ethical, legal and social implications of the All of Us initiative on June 5 (Photo: Jared Skolnick/JAX).

Panel Discussion "Double Helix in Law & the Courts"

One of the ELSI Congress panel discussions focused on "The Double Helix in Law and the Courts." Panelists here include: Mark Rothstein of the University of Louisville School of Medicine; Paul Appelbaum of Columbia University Medical Center; and Leslie Francis of the University of Utah (Photo: Jared Skolnick/JAX).

Plenary Talk of James Evans of UNC

On June 6 James Evans of the University of North Carolina gave a plenary talk on "Ethics & Omics: The Return of Results in the Clinic" (Photo: UConn Health/Janine Gelineau).

ELSI Congress Collaboration

The three-day ELSI Congress gave experts opportunities to come together to talk, collaborate, debate and network (UConn Health/Janine Gelineau).

Alondra Nelson Talks Ancestry and Genomics

"Genes, Ancestry and Identity" was a special plenary talk by Alondra Nelson, professor and dean of social science at Columbia University (UConn Health/Janine Gelineau).

Workshops

One workshop at ELSI Congress 2017 focused on “Should Every Newborn be Sequenced at Birth?” at JAX with Jeffrey Botkin of University of Utah School of Medicine. He was joined by Barbara Koenig of University of California, San Francisco; Josephine Johnston of The Hastings Center; Eric Juengst of University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill; and Aaron Goldenberg of Case Western Reserve University (UConn Health/Janine Gelineau).

Poster Session Walking Tour

During the three-day ELSI Congress several evening poster session walks were available at JAX for attendees to learn more about the latest research findings and current projects across the field (Photo: JAX).

Reinventing ELSI

Wylie Burke, professor in the Department of Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Washington shares her plenary talk on "Reinventing ELSI" (UConnHealth/Janine Gelineau).

ELSI Congress Wraps Up

The 2017 ELSI Congress ended on the afternoon of June 7 with a final plenary panel discussion on genomics and society with: James Evans of University of North Carolina; Pearl O’Rourke of Harvard Medical School; and Wylie Burke of the University of Washington. The panel's moderator was Dr. Paul Appelbaum of Columbia University Medical Center (Photo: UConn Health/Tina Encarnacion).

Presenters and attendees gathered from around the world and included physicians, geneticists, genetic counselors, social scientists and lawyers, in academia, government and industry.

Together, the ELSI Congress attendees learned about and shared the latest research that has sprung from the ethical, legal and social implications of genomic research advances. Event activities included more than 150 expert panel discussions, individual paper and poster presentations, and workshops.

Dr. Paul Appelbaum, director of the Columbia University Center for Research on the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of Psychiatric, Neurologic and Behavioral Genetics kicked off the three-day event on the morning of June 5.

Addressing the large crowd Appelbaum stressed, “The ELSI Universe is growing and we embrace that growth.”

Also, Dr. Ed Liu, president and CEO of The Jackson Laboratory spoke to the ELSI Congress about the advances in genomics, sharing: “One of the most exciting challenges are adjacency, speed and integration.” Liu added: “Expanding the ELSI Universe is exactly the right way that you are going. The importance of your discussions will have huge implications in a remarkably short time.”

The keynote speaker was Stephanie Devaney, Ph.D., deputy director of the All of Us Research Program at the NIH. In her keynote address, she educated the attendees about the new precision medicine research initiative and spoke about its goal to enroll 1 million volunteers.

“It is our charge to develop a resource for any or all diseases. Data from the program will be broadly accessible to empower research.” In addition, Devaney shared how the program will be a catalyst for research innovations including for ELSI.

“We have a number of ELSI priorities,” said Devaney. The All of Us Research Program hopes to promote health equity, learn more by working with special populations, and evaluate the impact of its activities she shared.

UConn Health was excited to co-host the 2017 ELSI Congress since it specializes in advancing genomic research, along with JAX.

“The increase in genomic testing and technology are fueling breakthrough discoveries here in Connecticut and around the globe for heart disease, cancer and a host of rare diseases,” said Dr. Bruce T. Liang, dean of UConn School of Medicine. “However, these promising personalized medicine therapies and our greater genetic knowledge may also come with a steep societal price if we don’t address the associated concerns in a timely fashion.”

The ELSI Congress was funded by NHGRI through a grant to Columbia University Medical Center.