Accelerating the Use of Pathogen Genomics and Metagenomics in Public Health: Proceedings of a Workshop (2025)
Chapter: Appendix A: Workshop Statement of Task
A
Workshop Statement of Task
Accelerating the Use of Pathogen Genomics and Metagenomics in Public Health
A Workshop
July 22–23, 2024
PURPOSE
A planning committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will organize a public workshop to explore the use of pathogen genomics and metagenomics data in the U.S. public health system. Invited presentations and workshop discussions will consider potential actions that can be taken to understand how next-generation sequencing technologies have been applied to surveillance efforts with success, as well as highlight priority areas for research and investment through examining
- What major gaps exist in the use of genomics technologies for pathogen surveillance across different levels of the U.S. public health infrastructure, and what potential frameworks for integrating metagenomics in this context might look like;
- How to strengthen important support mechanisms, such as computing resources and workforce training, to advance the field of
- genomic epidemiology, for example, to better analyze and integrate genomic with epidemiological or clinical data;
- How to incorporate data stewardship principles to optimize collection and sharing of relevant pathogen (meta)genomic data in the United States (with emphasis on lessons and implications for international coordination), improve the secondary utility of these data generated in public health settings, and inform decisions around data privacy, data sharing, and equitable access to benefits;
- What conditions could enable broader, more coordinated, accelerated, and sustained adoption of these tools and technologies for public health in the United States during outbreak and non-outbreak periods;
- How public health resources could be allocated toward bolstering pathogen genomics surveillance capabilities without detracting from other public health programs and components;
- Opportunities for multisector partnerships between U.S. and global public health institutions, academia, and the private sector to advance the field in technology innovation and implementation, including the development and sharing of pathogen genomics surveillance resources and capabilities.
The planning committee will organize the workshop, develop the agenda, select speakers and discussants, and moderate or identify moderators for the discussions. A proceedings publication that summarizes the presentations and discussions held during this workshop will be prepared by a designated rapporteur in accordance with institutional guidelines.
