Following a welcome from ISCB’s President Predrag Radivojac and Honorary Conference Chair Francis Ouellette, Dr. Fiona Brinkman gave a stellar opening talk to officially begin ISMB 2024!
Dr. Brinkman, a self-described nature lover and computer geek, explored how we as researchers can sustainably maintain and further develop bioinformatics and computational biology software, databases, and tools when funding support has a time limit, as well as exploring how we can promote open data and science in a way that’s sustainable and beneficial to communities.
While a main current to Brinkman’s talk was the challenges posed by the distinctly unsustainable grant-based funding model—which has the potential to limit growth in the field—there were several other important points discussed.
One such point was that interdisciplinary integration is necessary for innovation and novel discoveries! This point was exemplified by efforts to identify drug-targetable genes while preserving beneficial bacteria. Excitement over open-source data brought Brinkman’s talk to another key point: accurate, well-organized data is key to moving the field forward and has the potential to “get a lot more people’s brains working” on the big questions.
We need diversity and inclusion for greater innovation, but this requires more people, which requires more funding, which leads us back to the unsustainable grant cycle, which many researchers and labs finds themselves stuck in. Brinkman suggested the bioinformatics and computational biology community needs to advocate for public-private partnerships to ensure resource sustainability as we try to keep up with this quickly evolving field. A crucial overarching point from Brinkman was that we need sustainability with sensitivity. We need to watch out for unintended harm or loss of benefits to communities. As well, more discussion and consultation are needed to accurately address the challenges of funding and biological data sustainability, including maintaining benefits of open data, equity for marginalized/disadvantaged groups, and the need to ensure data sovereignty for groups.
An overarching message of Dr. Brinkman’s opening keynote address at ISMB 2024 was a call for organized, careful advancement in bioinformatics, integrating open science principles with a sensitivity to community impacts and the evolving nature of bioinformatics.
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