EP 149: Sequencing 33 million samples to support the UK’s COVID-19 response with Tony Cox, CEO of UK Biocentre
August 29, 2024
In this episode, we’re joined by Tony Cox, CEO of UK Biocentre. After spending more than 20 years at The Wellcome Sanger Institute, where he worked on the Human Genome Project, Tony moved to UK Biocentre in January 2020 – just before the world was turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization pivoted to play a key role in the UK’s response effort, and under Tony’s leadership the center sequenced 33 million DNA samples in just two years. Patrick and Tony discussed receiving a phone call from the UK government, scaling from sequencing 1,000 to 100,000 samples per day, and how to manage producing five tonnes of cardboard waste on a daily basis.
0:00 Intro to The Genetics Podcast
01:00 Welcome to Tony
02:00 What Tony was expecting going into the role of CEO at UK Biocentre, and how the COVID-19 pandemic changed his plans
03:38 Receiving a phone call from the UK government in March 2020 asking the UK Biocentre to stop all of its projects and focus on sequencing COVID-19 samples
05:12 The UK Biocentre’s scale-up process, including how many samples the UK Biocentre sequenced over the course of the pandemic
09:30 The biggest changes that enable sequencing to scale from 1,000 to 100,000 samples per day
13:33 What Tony has learned about how best to implement an accelerated, unified effort to deliver for public health
16:17 The organization’s current focus on large-scale genomics projects such as Our Future Health
18:50 The challenges which need to be overcome to deliver the Our Future Health project
22:19 How UK Biocentre preserves it samples and the logistical challenges involved
24:04 The types of projects that involve the largest-scale levels of sampling and storage
28:12 Figuring out how to integrate a preventive, sample-based approach to healthcare within the parameters of cost and scale
29:27 The future proofing of sample storage techniques
31:33 The importance of consent structure and how to utilize long-term serial sampling
33:24 The upcoming technology or projects that most excite Tony
36:19 Closing remarks
Find out more
ukbiocentre.com