in this edition
- Message from the Co-Chairs
- IHCC Featured Cohort – Generation V (GenV) – Australia
- DAC Announcement
- Atlas Workshop, October 27, 2021
- IHCC LINK: Q4 IHCC Member Workshop, November 3-4
- Opportunities to Participate
- Cohort Members’ Global Survey
- We are Hiring!
IHCC Quarterly Newsletter
November 2021
Message from the Co-Chairs
Greetings to the IHCC Community,
We are proud that IHCC is celebrating the end of its third year since the consortium was created. Since our initial gathering in 2018, we all have been busy (pandemics notwithstanding) building our organization’s vision, mission, values, and goals. This past year we completed a strategic plan that will be highlighted in this newsletter. It outlines broadly why we exist, our aspirations, and our culture. We are extremely proud of the forward progress and momentum of the IHCC. Our International Cohorts Atlas is growing in data and being used to develop collaborative scientific work. We now have seven significant scientific projects underway with extensive cross-cohort engagement. We have developed policies to help us and our partners engage and accelerate science. We have begun educational programs and to encourage the next generation of cohort leaders to join us in our journey. And we have expanded our leadership to include representatives from every continent with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are grateful to the funders who believe in the IHCC and value its ability to fully realize the potential of cohorts from around the globe to contribute to discovery science, and translate it to public and global health impact.
We are thankful to all those who participated and provided valuable input into the development of the IHCC Strategic Plan. The IHCC is continuing to grow and reach new milestones and frontiers. Through the guiding principles and strategic directions set forth in the strategic plan, we will achieve our vision as a global community of cohorts working together to advance science and improve health for all.
We are developing short and long-term plans for communicating the essence of the IHCC Strategic Plan to the different stakeholders, integrating the vision, mission, and values in our communications (social media, website, newsletters, emails), and reviewing our branding to be aligned to the Strategic Plan (new logo, email signature graphic, updated presentation slides, resources and guidance to adhere to the Strategic Plan). Please be on the lookout for these communications!
IHCC Featured Cohort
GenV: Generation Victoria
PIs: Prof Melissa Wake MBChB MD, Prof Richard Saffery PhD, Prof Sharon Goldfeld MBBS PhD
Modern ‘mega’ cohorts, such as UK Biobank, are transforming how policy and practice questions are addressed for older adults. The new Generation Victoria (GenV) Cohort 2020s is aiming to achieve this for the beginning of life and of midlife. Drawing important lessons from other recent initiatives, both successful and less so, we have set out to design a cohort that changes how we conduct lifecourse research and thence to make fundamental contributions to better lifecourse trajectories for individuals, diverse groups and populations. We are pleased to be an ‘emerging cohort’ within the IHCC.
DAC Announcement
Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative and IHCC Announce Milestones in the Fight Against Alzheimer’s Disease
In September 2021, the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC), announced its successful completion of financing of its foundational phase and has launched several key initiatives to advance Alzheimer’s research, prevention and care to advance the fight against the disease. DAC is a global multi-stakeholder partnership that is mobilizing the world against Alzheimer’s disease, and the IHCC is proud to be a part of this million person cohort. Continue reading to learn more about DAC’s initiatives and how IHCC will play a role, and to view the official DAC press release from Septemeber.
Atlas Workshop
The IHCC Data & Infrastructure Working Group held a hands-on workshop on October 27, 2021 for the IHCC on how to prepare and transfer your cohort’s data into the Atlas. Participants learned how the IHCC Cohort Atlas Browser fits into the IHCC project strategy, the benefits for IHCC member cohorts to add their cohorts to the platform, and provided practical training on how to prepare cohort metadata (e.g., metadata harmonisation).
View the workshop presentations here: IHCC Cohort Atlas Workshop – Oct 2021
View the instructions on how to submit cohort data into the Atlas at: https://ihcc-cohorts.github.io/DataDictionaryMapping.html
If you have any questions about Atlas, or to schedule a time to discuss your data with the Atlas team, please email: ihcc-browser@googlegroups.com. This will reach the whole browser group.
You can find the recording of the Workshop on the Atlas Workshop website page: https://ihccglobal.org/ihcc-data-atlas-workshop/
IHCC LINK: Our Q4 Members Workshop
The 2021 Q4 IHCC Members Workshop, newly named IHCC LINK, occurred on November 3-4! Thank you everyone for your participation. We learned from amazing speakers and we had very interesting and fruitful discussions.
For those who participated, we would love to know about your feedback. Please complete our post-workshop survey.
Be on the lookout for the recording and the executive summary that will be available on our website soon.
Opportunity to Participate!
Join a Working Group! We Need You!
IHCC currently has 4 active working groups:
- Data Standards and Infrastructure
- Policy and System
- Scientific Strategy and Cohort Enhancements
- Training and Workforce (NEW)
For details on each group, visit our website at https://ihccglobal.org/ourteams.
As we shared with you earlier in this newsletter, we recently completed a 5-year strategic plan to move the IHCC forward and need your help advancing the implementation plans from each of the working groups forward to reach ultimately the IHCC vision and mission to enhance scientific understanding of the biological, environmental and genetic basis of diseases and to improve population health.
Interested in joining a Working Group? Contact us at ihccinfo@ihccglobal.org and we will connect you to the team.
Not an IHCC member yet? Apply here to join our community!
IHCC Cohorts Global Survey
To support the IHCC working groups in implementing a strategic plan that aims to revolutionize population health science, we have prepared an IHCC Cohort members’ Global Survey that aims to capture research priorities, capabilities, and ongoing initiatives across the IHCC.
We would be very grateful if you could find the time to complete the survey below, which should take 10-15 minutes to complete.
We Are Hiring!
The Global Genomic Medicine Collaborative (G2MC) is hiring a part-time Project Manager to work with the International HundredK+ Cohorts Consortium (IHCC) Program Team to implement the activities of the IHCC – specifically providing support to identified working groups. View the job posting below for additional details.
Upcoming IHCC Events
Educational Webinar Series
We decided to skip this month’s webinar to focus on the Atlas Workshop and Q4 Members Workshop which took place in October/early November. We will be back with our programming soon!
Interested to be one of our speakers? Apply here!
In the meantime, you can watch the recording of previous webinars on our Educational Webinar Series webpage.
Follow Us!
Join Our Community
Not a member yet? Read our Membership Agreement and click below to join the IHCC community!
Member cohort information is posted in our Member Cohorts Database. If you’re already an IHCC member cohort, but need to update your information, you may also do so using the form below.
IHCC VISION
A global community of cohorts working together to advance science and improve health for all.
IHCC MISSION
To forge cohort connections that revolutionize population health science by providing sustainable data infrastructure, cultivating a collaborative research environment, and promoting policies and best practices that foster connectivity, interoperability, and reciprocity.
