Ian Dunham will focus on the delivery of Open Targets’ established research programme to exploit advances in genetics and genomics for drug target identification and prioritisation. He also aims to increase the use of new approaches to the programme, including single-cell sequencing, CRISPR and artificial intelligence.

Scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, GSK and their collaborators analysed the genomes of over 77,000 people with osteoarthritis. The findings, published in Nature Genetics, revealed new genes and biological pathways linked to the condition, which could help identify starting points for new medicines. It also opportunities for repurposing existing medicines.

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators mapped the most important genes for controlling T helper cells, and identified several new potential regulatory genes. Published in Cell, these findings could help scientists develop new treatments to activate the immune system against tumours or infection.

Scientists discovered that the cholera strain causing the Yemen epidemic is related to a strain first seen in 2012 in South Asia that has spread globally, but the Yemeni strain did not arrive directly from South Asia or the Middle East. This particular cholera strain was circulating and causing outbreaks in Eastern Africa between 2013 and 2014, prior to appearing in Yemen in 2016.

In April 2018 allegations were made against the Sanger Institute Director and other senior members of the Institute in a whistleblowing claim. An independent investigation into the allegations, commissioned by the Board of Directors (the charity’s trustees), was carried out by a barrister, and delivered in October. The allegations were not upheld. The Board of Directors has carefully considered the investigation report and has accepted its findings.

The genomes, completed today (21 December) will enable researchers to explore the genetic switches controlling bird migration and give insight into the magneto receptors that help robins ‘see’ the Earth’s magnetic fields for navigation. The Turtle dove genome will help conservation efforts to save one of the UK’s fastest declining bird species.

Sanger Institute researchers and their collaborators discovered that SRPK1 was the target of a compound being developed in eye drops for the treatment of retinal neovascular disease. The team found that the compound strongly inhibited the growth of several MLL-rearranged AML cell lines, but did not inhibit the growth of normal blood stem cells

Three new strains of hepatitis C virus have been found circulating in the general population in sub-Saharan Africa. This discovery could inform hepatitis C vaccine development worldwide and suggests clinical trials of patients in the region are urgently needed. Published in the journal Hepatology, the study could assist the World Health Organisation’s aim of eliminating hepatitis C globally.

Sanger’s use of cloud computing has been recognised by HPCwire, the journal of high performance and data-intensive computing. The IT team won the Readers’ Choice award for Best Use of High Performance Computing in the Cloud

The long-standing efforts of the Wellcome Genome Campus to engage and inspire the public have today (29 November 2018) been rewarded with the Silver Engage Watermark from the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE). The Engage Watermark recognises strategic support for public engagement across the organisation, as well as the commitment to develop plans for the future.