AI Work Stream Co-Lead

Help develop the next generation of standards to enable responsible and equitable application of AI in genomics and health.

The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) is a global volunteer standards development organisation dedicated to realising the potential of genomics in health. Supported by staff across five Host Institutions (Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Wellcome Sanger Institute, EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute, and McGill University’s Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Institute of Genomic Medicine), members of the genomics and health data communities provide expert leadership to GA4GH’s Work Streams.

The AI Work Stream focuses on establishing frameworks, standards, and best practices for the responsible use of artificial intelligence in genomics and related health data contexts. This includes defining interoperable representations for AI-ready datasets, developing models for data sharing that respect privacy and consent, and supporting Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable (FAIR), transparent, and equitable deployment of AI methods across the genomics ecosystem.

For this open call, we are aiming to find three Co-Leads to lead this effort.

Your role

This is an opportunity to help shape how artificial intelligence is applied to genomics and health on a global scale. Working closely with your Co-Lead and members of GA4GH staff, the AI Work Stream Co-Lead will guide the strategic direction of the Work Stream in alignment with GA4GH’s organisational goals.

You will help define priorities, convene technical and policy discussions, chair meetings, and foster cross-Work-Stream collaboration — particularly with Work Streams such as Data Use & Researcher Identities (DURI), Regulatory & Ethics (REWS), Clinical & Phenotypic Data Capture (Clin/Pheno), Cloud, and Large-Scale Genomics. Central to the role is listening to diverse perspectives, building consensus, and ensuring that standards emerging from the AI Work Stream reflect the community’s shared commitment to responsible, inclusive, and interoperable data use.

As AI continues to transform the landscape of genomic research and healthcare, the Work Stream’s success depends on thoughtful coordination with technical communities, clinical researchers, data custodians, and policymakers worldwide.

The newly-created AI work stream will be exploring the following areas initially for potential emergent product or standards development within GA4GH. 

• Technical: Define standards for AI–data/service integration; metadata requirements for AI models and training datasets.
• Ethical & Policy: Develop frameworks for attribution, custodianship, machine agency, and equitable access.
• Cross-Cutting Engagement: Align with Cloud, Discovery, Clin/Pheno, DURI, and REWS Work Streams.

Why join us…

GA4GH is committed to developing the standards needed to make the potential benefits of genomics and AI in health a global reality — supporting secure, ethical, and interoperable data sharing across borders.

With a vibrant international network of contributors spanning research, healthcare, industry, and government, GA4GH offers a unique platform to drive technical and ethical innovation. Our community is built on foundational commitments to human rights, ethics, and security, and our leadership structure reflects our dedication to strengthening global representation..

We actively seek to broaden participation and ensure that GA4GH’s standards reflect a broad range of global contexts. We warmly welcome nominations and expressions of interest from all qualified individuals. This role requires a 0.15 FTE time commitment to be donated for successful appointment of this volunteer role. 

You have…

• Demonstrable experience engaging multidisciplinary communities of developers, data scientists, and researchers
• Real-world experience and empathy for data providers or data consumers in genomics and health research
• Deep expertise in applied AI methodologies, benchmarking AI models, developing training datasets, as well as bioinformatics or genomics
• Significant experience applying AI or computational models to biological or clinical data 
• Familiarity with data governance, privacy, and ethical considerations in health data use
• The ability to engage with others, explore multiple viewpoints, and build consensus
• Strong leadership and communication skills, with experience facilitating diverse working groups
• An understanding of how standards and interoperability enable the responsible use of data for AI applications
• The ability to identify new opportunities and translate them into actionable, community-driven projects
• Competency in writing code and managing repositories such as GitHub
• Strategic vision and project management skills required to create and maintain product roadmaps for AI standards and products 

You might also have…

• Experience working with GA4GH or other standards development organisations
• Involvement in AI or data governance initiatives within genomics or healthcare
• Experience in federated learning, privacy-preserving analytics, or explainable AI
• Familiarity with relevant GA4GH standards (e.g. DRS, DUO, Phenopackets, WES, or refget)
• Experience in clinical data science or research
• A record of collaboration across research, clinical, and policy communities
• An interest in the ethical and societal implications of AI in genomics
• Industry experience in implementing AI methodologies 

Apply to this opportunity