Advancing medicine through the integration of genomics and exposomics

About the meeting

The goal of this meeting is to develop a strategic plan for the advancement of gene by environment studies to better understand human disease. Advances in sequencing technologies have revealed countless discoveries of the genetic drivers of human disease, but for most chronic disease genetics can only account for a portion of the variability. A broad range of environmental factors are known to contribute to human disease. Recent advances in exposomics which is designed to systematically analyze the physical, chemical, biological, and social factors that influence disease, now position the research community to systematically perform gene by environment experiments.

Background

In December, 2023 a group of scientists convened at the Banbury Center of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories for the Integrating Exposomics into the Biomedical Enterprise meeting. One of the key goals of that meeting was to develop a unified definition of the exposome that could be embraced by investigators across the world and to identify key challenges that needed to be overcome. The resulting paper was published in 2025 (Banbury Exposomics Consortium, Integrating Exposomics into Biomedicine, Science 25;388(6745):356-358). The 2025 Mendel Museum Meeting Advancing Medicine through the Integration of Genomics and Exposomics is designed to complement the Banbury Meeting by providing deeper engagement with European scientists to address the critical need of merging methods, techniques, and expertise in exposomics and genomics to provide a foundation for systematic gene by environment studies.

About the organizers

Conference programme

Major topics to be addressed include: State-of-the-art methods in genomics and exposomics Data and analytical platforms Computational and statistical approaches Harmonization and standardization Study populations, including biobanks

Rather than a series of lectures, this meeting will focus on brief presentations and small working groups to develop an actionable framework to address key challenges in the field. This meeting is designed to be small and by invitation only, allowing participants to speak freely and engage in extensive discussion and a policy of confidentiality is presumed. Additional details are attached and include information regarding meeting policies, confidentiality, accommodations, and expense reimbursement. Once you have reviewed the invitation, please complete an online response form (link below) to indicate whether you will or will not attend this meeting; the deadline for responses is August 15th.

Attractive venue

The Mendel Museum is home to the Mendel Lecture series, which has hosted many of the world's top scientists including numerous Nobel Laureates. The lectures are held in the Augustinian Abbey in Old Brno where Gregor Mendel conducted his groundbreaking studies two centuries ago. In addition to the Mendel Lecture series, the site is home to a museum dedicated to the history of genetics. The Advancing medicine through the integration of genomics and exposomics meeting will be held on the grounds of the Abbey and Museum, including the newly constructed Mendel Greenhouse which is located precisely where Mendel conducted his pea experiments.

Practicalities and logistics

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