Teaching

I lead a Research-driven course at ETH on Clinical Genomics. Offered every semester - open to all students at ETH.

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Bioinformatics and the computational analysis of next-generation sequencing data are the foundation of many medical discoveries, personalized medicine, high throughput diagnostic techniques, and the early detection of cancer and autoimmune diseases. A dedicated machine (called a sequencer) extracts lots of random fragments of a DNA sequence, known as reads. Small, handheld sequencers such as ONT MinION and Flongle make it possible to sequence bacterial and viral genomes on-site. This enables disease outbreak analyses (i.e., for COVID-19 or Ebola) and the on-site analysis of patient samples. A prominent example is the study of the human microbiome in liquid biopsy samples (i.e., blood samples). The microbiome is strongly related to human health and allows for the early diagnosis of diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and cancer.

In this course, we will cover the basics of genome analysis for medical applications, high-throughput diagnostics, and the early detection and prevention of diseases.

Students will experimentally evaluate different algorithms and machine-learning techniques to uncover somatic mutations in cancer and develop tools dedicated to microbiome discovery and high-throughput disease diagnostics.

Prerequisites:

• No prior knowledge in bioinformatics or genome analysis is required.
• Proficiency in C/C++ programming and bash scripting is required.
• Interest in clinical applications, human health, and an ambition to make things efficient and to solve novel problems.

The course on Clinical Genomics is led by Arvid Gollwitzer. If you are interested in participating and would like to learn more about the course and available projects, contact Arvid at arvid.gollwitzer@safari.ethz.ch.

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The class is offered every semester, and open to all ETH students. Further details and project suggestions will be published on the course website.

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For interested students: please text me at arvid.gollwitzer@safari.ethz.ch!

I am always happy to talk about available projects. We can also work out custom projects based on your ideas and preferences!

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