Strategic plan for genomic data service due this year

A strategic plan for a national genomic data service is due for publication before the end of 2026, this newspaper has been told.

The genomic data service “is critical to the repatriation of genomic testing and to the delivery of the national genomic medicine service”, according to a HSE spokesperson. Ireland currently outsources thousands of samples abroad for genetic and genomic testing annually.

Genomic medicine is data-driven healthcare that uses advanced bioinformatics and analytical tools to convert a patient’s genomic data into an “actionable, clinical result to inform clinicians, to diagnose patients, and to direct treatment pathways”.

“Clinically, the genomic data service will provide an essential processing component of genomic testing.”

The strategic plan for the genomic data service will define the digital capabilities that will enable Ireland to commence repatriation of genomic testing.

The spokesperson also told the Medical Independent that progress was being made on the development of a national genomic medicine centre (NGMC). The NGMC will be the national centre of genetics and genomics as envisaged in the National Strategy for Accelerating Genetic and Genomic Medicine, which was launched in 2022. This centre will achieve several “key overarching aims” and increase national testing capacity and equity of access across all clinical specialties.

The National Genetics and Genomics Office “is working with HSE Capital and Estates to progress this project through the capital process”, the spokesperson said.

“In advance of the NGMC, the establishment of the national genomic processing service at Beaumont Hospital [Dublin] has commenced standardisation of testing and access to testing for patients and clinicians across the country.”