Prof.dr. Peter-Bram ’t Hoen is full professor in bioinformatics at RadboudUMC (Centre for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics). Before that, he was postdoc, assistant and associate professor in the Human Genetics department at Leiden University Medical Center. His group studied the aetiology of rare muscular dystrophies using state-of-the-art molecular technologies. He was among the first researchers in the Netherlands to implement microarray and (novel) RNA-sequencing technologies, and organized many (inter)national courses on these topics. With these new technologies, he identified major players and mechanisms in the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in health and disease. His main drive is to optimally analyze and interpret large -omics data sets. In their interpretation, he typically goes beyond standard (pathway) analysis methods and develops and employs automated knowledge discovery approaches and new statistical routines. This resulted in the prediction and validation of novel biomarkers, novel protein: protein interactions, and new candidate drugs. Apart from his leading role in the X-omics Data Analysis, Integration and Stewardship pillar, ‘t Hoen is member of the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC ) taskforce on data mining and drug repurposing, board member of the research working group European Reference Network on neuromuscular diseases (EURO-NMD) and management team member of the personal health train consortium, developing a data infrastructure to advance healthcare and biomedical science through interoperable and federated data management.  

Prof.dr. Morris Swetz is associate professor Big Data in Biomedical Science and Head of Genomics Coordination Center at University Medical Center Groningen. He develops innovative and powerful methods for efficient modelling, production and evolution of flexible biological software infrastructures for post-genomic research. These methods allow researchers to manage, analyze and integrate large datasets at multiple molecular levels to answer various research questions. These methods and tools are now evolving into ‘eLaboratories’ and ‘eScience’: integrated systems of tools that speed up biomedical research by integrating large-scale genotyping and phenotyping experiments such as microarrays, proteomics, metabolomics, SNP genotyping, and deep sequencing. He developed MOLGENIS as an open source framework to handle the enormous flow of post-genomic data. His work is disseminated through local (Groningen Bioinformatics Center, LifeLines), national (Netherlands Bioinformatics Center/BioAssist program) and international (BBMRI, ELIXIR, SolveRD) consortia.