Illumina Digital CoLab hosted by the Emerging Laboratory Technologies SIG

Includes a Live Web Event on 07/16/2025 at 12:00 PM (EDT)

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Illumina Digital CoLab - Constellation: The Next Generation of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS), hosted by the Emerging Laboratory Technologies SIG

Ali Crawford is a Sr. Director at Illumina. In this CoLab, Ali Crawford, PhD will present on Constellation mapped reads, a novel on flow cell whole genome assay. The Constellation mapped reads workflow moves typical DNA library prep directly onto the flow cell, where DNA is tagmented and sequenced in nanowells on the flow cell surface. Using information from neighboring nanowells, many additional insights can be derived with Constellation as compared to traditional short read whole genome sequencing. This workflow can be utilized for any researcher who is interested in additional insights from Illumina whole genome sequencing including haplotype information, improved callability in high homologous regions, and improved structural variant calling and visualization. This presentation will cover how these genomes compare to other sequencing technologies and ways to interpret these new outputs.

Overview of Presentation

Overview of the Constellation technology
Review of data outputs and benchmarks to other technology
Specific examples of Constellation specific insights and how to interpret them

Ali Crawford, PhD

Sr. Director, Scientific Research, Ilumina

Dr. Ali Crawford serves as the Senior Director of Scientific Research at Illumina, where she leads the Strategic Clinical Research group. Her team is dedicated to advancing the application of genomics to improve human health, leveraging next-generation sequencing (NGS) and multiomics technologies to support both molecular diagnostics and therapeutic development and selection. Under her leadership, the group contributes to the design and development of innovative tools aimed at democratizing access to sequencing technologies, ensuring they are available to all who need them.

Prior to joining Illumina, Dr. Crawford earned her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego. She subsequently completed postdoctoral research focused on identifying novel genes implicated in pediatric neurological disorders and other rare diseases.

Disclosure: Ali Crawford is a Sr. Director at Illumina.

Rizwan C Naeem, M.B., B.S. (Moderator)

Professor of Pathology Program, Director of Molecular Pathology

LGG and MGP Fellowship Programs Founding Program Director

Since 2009, Rizwan C Naeem has been a professor of Pathology, Director of molecular pathology and serves as founding program director for Laboratory Genetics and Genomics (LGG) and Molecular Genetics Pathology (MGP) fellowship programs at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in NY. He is dual board certified in clinical molecular genetics and clinical cytogenetics with experience of over 25 years as lab director and didactic teacher from Tufts University in Boston to Baylor College of medicine in Houston and now at Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in NY.

He has served many leadership positions at the American College of Medical Genetics and Association of Molecular Pathologist (AMP). He is an immediate past president for the counsel of program director at AMP and representing American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) at Undergraduate Training in Genomics Committee (UTRIG) under Association of Pathology Chairs. Currently, he is a selected member of Diversity and Equity Committee (DEI) of AMP. He is also a Founding member of the Pakistani Association of Medical Genetics and Genomics and serving educational needs of students and physician and providing virtual clinics to patients in Karachi and Lahor.