History

GA4GH celebrates its 10th anniversary.

For the first time in three years, contributors, supporters, and newcomers convene for an in-person plenary meeting in Barcelona, Spain. To expand access, GA4GH 10th Plenary also includes virtual livestreams.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) publishes its first GA4GH standard, Phenopackets.

GA4GH contributors reconvene in person for the first time in three years in Montreal, Canada, to advance standards development and cross-Work-Stream initiatives.

A special issue of the new open-access journal Cell Genomics discusses how GA4GH and its products bridge research, healthcare, and industry — enabling responsible data sharing in genomics and health.  

Community members discuss responsible data, implementing GA4GH products, and underrepresented communities at the virtual GA4GH 9th Plenary meeting.

Susan Fairley joins as the first Chief Standards Officer, heading the development of a new staff technical team to support GA4GH standards creation. The Executive Committee also welcomes Director of Strategy and Engagement Angela Page.

The Core Funders Forum launches, bringing together organisations that have committed significant long-term funds to advise GA4GH strategy.

Not-for-profit organisation GA4GH Inc. forms in Canada to provide legal, operational, and financial support to the broader GA4GH.

After a gap analysis identifies areas of need in the community, the 2020 to 2021 Strategic Roadmap outlines the path GA4GH would take to address those issues.

Some 770 participants in more than 50 countries attend the virtual GA4GH 8th Plenary meeting, discussing ethical and technical solutions to harness the power of diverse genetic data. Expanding access for an international audience, the meeting offers live interpretation in Japanese, Spanish, French, and German.

The 2020 Connection Demos launch, an effort by the Federated Analysis Systems Project (FASP) to demonstrate how GA4GH standards solve real-world scientific problems by allowing genomic analysis in the cloud.

National genomics initiatives join online for the first official meeting of the Genomics in Health Implementation Forum (GHIF), now known as the National Initiatives Forum. The gathering of these groups encourages global cooperation in sharing data, adopting GA4GH standards, and bringing genomics into healthcare.

By the end of the year, the GA4GH Standards Steering Committee approved nine new GA4GH products under the GA4GH Connect plan — bringing the community closer to realising data interoperability and responsible international data sharing.

GA4GH 7th Plenary in Boston, USA, addresses the most pressing data sharing needs in genomics and health. Bio-IT World and GenomeWeb cover the meeting.

GA4GH and ELIXIR announced a strategic partnership, ensuring GA4GH’s products are fit for purpose and compatible with European regulations.

GA4GH welcomed seven new Driver Projects, extending GA4GH’s geographic and domain reach.

The first tools produced under the GA4GH Connect plan debuted in Basel, Switzerland, where more than 450 people meet for GA4GH 6th Plenary. Heidi Rehm is elected a Vice-Chair of the GA4GH Steering Committee.

Building on the Strategic Roadmap and the five-year GA4GH Connect plan, the most active contributors convene in Toronto, Canada, for the first GA4GH Connect implementation meeting.

The GA4GH Strategic Roadmap presents planned deliverables and timelines to enable real-world data sharing.

The first Driver Projects are announced, enlisting 15 of the world’s leading genomic research and medicine initiatives to help guide GA4GH product development.

GA4GH 5th Plenary in Orlando, Florida, marks the start of a new five-year strategic plan, GA4GH Connect. The plan introduces eight Work Streams focused on delivering the standards and tools most needed for real-world genomic and health-related data sharing.

The GA4GH Strategic Planning Meeting in Hinxton, UK, welcomes 100 active contributors to discuss priority focus areas and best practices.

The first rare disease diagnosis made via Matchmaker Exchange links the gene EXTL3 to nine patients across five families around the globe with skeletal, neurological, and immunological abnormalities. The research was published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Ewan Birney, Co-Director of EMBL-EBI, becomes the third Chair of the GA4GH Steering Committee.

More than 350 people attend GA4GH 4th Plenary in Vancouver, Canada, to encourage the rapid uptake of GA4GH tools and solutions in the real world. 

Science publishes a GA4GH perspective article calling for a federated ecosystem for sharing genomic and clinical data.

As GA4GH continues to strengthen partnerships with international initiatives, it hosts a Global Engagement Workshop at the International Congress of Human Genetics 2016 in Kyoto, Japan.

GA4GH convenes a Strategic Advisory Board to help define the future strategic direction and high-level performance of the organisation. Harold Varmus, former Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, chairs.

BRCA Exchange launches as the first product of BRCA Challenge. The web portal pools data on BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic variants and corresponding clinical data from around the world.

Human Mutation publishes a special issue dedicated to Matchmaker Exchange (MME), featuring 16 articles on the federated MME platform, participating matchmakers, and important aspects of rare disease gene matching.

Thomas Hudson, then President of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, becomes the second Chair of the GA4GH Steering Committee.

Aiming to expand global and sector diversity in GA4GH and integrate with other data sharing efforts, GA4GH 3rd Plenary brings together community members in Leiden, Netherlands.

BRCA Challenge launches to advance understanding of hereditary breast, ovarian, and other cancers associated with variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

MIT Technology Review lists GA4GH standards and the “internet of DNA” among 10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2015.

2015 to 2016 Strategic Roadmap outlines goals to ensure results, relevance, and sustainability for GA4GH.

At GA4GH 2nd Plenary in San Diego, USA, the community brainstorms next steps to scale genomic data sharing.

The Standards Steering Committee adopts the GA4GH Constitution. Over 130 leading stakeholders in the genomic data sharing community sign on as Organisational Members in the subsequent month.

The Framework for Responsible Sharing of Genomic and Health-Related Data is published, providing a human rights foundation for GA4GH work.

The GA4GH 1st Plenary meeting joins more than 180 people at the Wellcome Trust in London, UK, to present the need for a global alliance to harmonise genomic and clinical data. The group identifies three projects to demonstrate the value of genomic data sharing: Matchmaker Exchange, BRCA Challenge, and Beacon Project.

Kathryn North joins as a Vice-Chair of the Standards Steering Committee.

The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) becomes the official name of the fledgling organisation. David Altshuler, then Deputy Director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, serves as the founding Chair of the GA4GH Steering Committee. University of California Santa Cruz Genomics Institute Director David Haussler serves as founding Vice-Chair. 

Four Working Groups — Data, Clinical, Security, and Regulatory & Ethics — launch. Members begin planning to develop interoperable tools for genomic data sharing.

73 partners sign a non-binding letter of intent publicly announcing the commitment to form an alliance.

A white paper describes the need for genomic data sharing and new plans to seize the opportunity.

50 colleagues from eight countries meet in New York, USA, to discuss the current challenges and opportunities in genomic research and medicine and propose GA4GH.