The Genetic Epidemiology Research Alliance (GERA) has established an Australian-wide network of researchers who are interested in genomics known as the GERA Genomics Interest Group. The group convene every two months to exchange knowledge and foster collaboration within the field of genetic epidemiology.  The aim of the group is to improve our understanding of how genomic variation contributes to the occurrence and distribution of human disease. Discussions will centre around a guest speaker presentation and will encompass a broad range of topics, including human genomic variability, familial aggregation, gene-environment interactions, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and heritability, to name a few. 

Participation is open to researchers at all levels, including PhD and master’s students.

Meeting format:

• Guest speaker presentation ~20 minutes
• Post-presentation discussion ~20 minutes
• Informal discussion regarding new methodologies, problems/issues confronting researchers, collaboration opportunities, newly published papers of interest, etc. ~20 minutes

When?
Dates for 2026 are coming soon

Interested? Contact Karen Alpen karen.alpen@unimelb.edu.au to join our mailing list.

Past presenters

• Friday 28th March 2025. A/Prof Loic Yengo (University of Queensland)
  Title: How much heritability are we still missing?​ – Recording
  
• Friday 23rd May 2025. Dr Mark Pinese (Children’s Cancer Institute, NSW)
  Title: The Genomics of Health and Disease: Lessons from the Old and Very Young​ – Recording
  
• Friday 25th July 2025. Dr Benjamin Goudey (Australian Biocommons, VIC)
  Title: Australia BioCommons- a national platform for bioinformaticsinfrastructure and services​ – No recording available
  
• Friday 19th September 2025. A/Prof Liesel FitzGerald  (University of Tasmania)
  Title: Leveraging Tasmania’s unique genealogy to identify rare cancer risk genes​ – Recording
  
• Friday 28th November 2025. Dr Melvin Chin (Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, WA)
  Title: Multiomics Meets Reality: Challenges in Validating Mesothelioma Treatment Response​ – Recording