PANDOMIC Participates in HERA Sequencing Symposium

On the 4th and 5 th of June 2025, members of PANDOMIC participated in the HERA Symposium on Strengthening Genomic Sequencing Capacities for Outbreak Preparedness and Response, held in Brussels. The team presented the project, sharing insights on enhancing microbial genomic monitoring and cross-border collaboration.

Organised by the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), the event brought together representatives from 21 Member State projects, EU agencies, and international partners to share progress, address challenges, and explore sustainable strategies for genomic surveillance in the context of pandemic preparedness. A central theme across discussions was the long-term sustainability of capacities developed through HERA-funded projects.

Dr. Sc. Jainaba Roussel, Dr. Sc. Catherine Ragimbeau, and Arnaud Muller, MSc Bioinformatics, from the Department of Microbiology at LNS, represented the consortium at the event. Dr. Roussel delivered a presentation on behalf of the partners, providing a clear overview of the project’s objectives, structure, progress, and achievements. She also outlined the advances in the sequencing capacities of the consortium since the project’s launch and highlighted the remaining gaps to address to obtain lasting impact.

Key achievements included:

✅ Improved pathogen sequencing workflows
✅ Optimised protocols for long-read sequencing
✅ Development of more robust data systems

These results underline PANDOMIC’s contribution to building a stronger, coordinated European response to future health emergencies.

Disclaimer

PANDOMIC is co-funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement Nr101112724. Views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the European Health and Digital Executive Agency can be held responsible for them.