We're pleased to invite you to the Perth Biostatistics/Bioinformatics Meetup. This is a joint event supported by the WA Branch of the Statistical Society of Australia (SSA), the SSA Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Section, Clinical Trials Enablement Platform WA (CTEP-WA), Perth Epidemiological Group (PEG), and the WA Health Translation Network (WAHTN).

Date: Tuesday, 13 June 2023.
Time: Refreshments at 5:30PM for a 6:00PM start
Venue: McCusker Auditorium, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research (North).

The purpose of this event is to bring together those with expertise and/or interest in medical and healthcare statistics in Perth. It is an opportunity to socialise and network, and encourage upcoming professionals to pursue a career in this worthwhile field.

There will be three invited speakers this evening: Dr Rich Edwards (UWA), Dr Matt Cooper (Telethon Kids Institute), and Mr Wes Billingham (Telethon Kids Institute).

presentations

The Oceans Genomes Project - A Comprehensive High-quality Reference Genome Library for Marine Vertebrate Conservation and Biodiversity

Dr Rich Edwards, Ocean Genomes Laboratory, Minderoo OceanOmics Centre, UWA.

The world’s oceans play a vital role in supporting life on Earth. Ocean acidification, rising global temperatures, pollution and poor fishing practices are placing major stresses on marine life. These threaten the survival of species and ecosystems, creating a marine biodiversity crisis. The Minderoo OceanOmics program seeks to revolutionise how we measure, understand and protect life in our oceans by advancing genomic tools to improve the conservation of marine biodiversity and sustainable management of marine species. Marine vertebrates are of particular interest because of their ecological roles, cultural significance and commercial importance.
 
In this talk, I will introduce the Ocean Genomes component of the Minderoo OceanOmics program. We are building a comprehensive high-quality reference genome library of all Australian marine vertebrates in partnership with the Vertebrate Genomes Project, major sequencing providers, and a broad network of scientific and government organisations. I will introduce the main goals, tools, and workflows of the project, along with its progress to date, current challenges, and opportunities for collaboration.

About the Speaker

I started my research career with a PhD in Genetics, developing population models of transposable elements in bacteria. I then moved to Dublin, Ireland, for postdoc positions as a bioinformatician, applying evolutionary theory to protein specificity and functional site prediction. I started my own lab in Southampton, UK, in 2007, with a focus on the prediction of short linear protein-protein interaction motifs. Following a move to the University of New South Wales in 2013, the focus on my research and teaching shifted to the application of high throughput DNA sequencing and genomics – particularly diploid eukaryotic genome assembly – to understanding genetic adaptation to novel environments, protein family evolution, and conservation biology. I have worked across all domains of life, and actively participated in several national consortia: Oz Mammals Genomics, Genomics of Australian Plants, Australian Amphibian and Reptile Genomics, and the Threatened Species Initiative.
 
In 2022, I moved to the University of Western Australia (UWA) Oceans Institute to lead the Ocean Genomes Laboratory, part of the Minderoo OceanOmics Centre at UWA. Here, we are creating a comprehensive resource of high-quality marine vertebrate reference genomes. My current research focus is evolutionary genomics, applying de novo genome assembly and population genomics to problems in ecology and conservation. I also develop and maintain a number of protein interaction/evolution and genomics tools, as part of the SLiMSuite package.

Approaches to combining information from different clustering algorithms: applied to neurodevelopmental diagnostic data

Wesley Billingham, Telethon Kids Institute

A colleague, using data from the WA Autism Register, was interested to see if groups (clusters) of individuals that shared similar behavioural profiles could be identified. They wanted to use a novel methodology, detailed in one of their collaborator's published papers, in which several clustering algorithms are applied to the data before combining the resulting clustering allocations. This presentation will outline the journey so far of this work-in-progress, some mistakes that were made and lessons learnt, and how we are adjusting the aforementioned methodology to suit this dataset.

About the Speaker

Wesley Billingham is an early to mid-career biostatistician at Telethon Kids Institute, working in the biostatistics team to provide statistical consultation and quality data analysis to researchers.

Simulations to inform power/sample size, assisting researchers through the unknown

Dr Matt Cooper, Telethon Kids Institute.

Researchers regularly have queries related to study design, and more specifically sample size, that often statisticians are best placed to answer. Sometimes these calculations will be straight forward (simple analysis techniques planned, reliable parameter estimates available), other times they will be more complicated (novel study designs, limited knowledge of expected outcomes). This presentation will be a walkthrough of how one such conversation progressed, where simulations were used to guide the conversation and inform the final study design - including looking at how well the estimates mapped (or didn’t map…) to actual study findings.

About the Speaker

Matt Cooper has over 15-years’ experience as a consultant biostatistician, primarily within WA Child Health research.

Venue & Parking

This event is held at Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research (North; Google Maps). The presentations will be hosted in McCusker Auditorium followed by refreshments in the building foyer.

Suggested parking is in Car Park 3A, accessed via Hampden Rd and Caladenia Cr.

Registration

This event is free but please register your attendance to assist with catering and meeting dietary requirements.

Please circulate this invitation amongst your networks to anyone who might be interested, especially students and those early in their careers.

If you have any queries, please contact the convenor, Shih Ching Fu.

Thank you again to all of this event's supporters.