World’s largest genomics organization announces Innovation Center co-located in Seattle and San Jose during West Coast visit of BGI co-founder and President Dr. Jian Wang, pioneer of genomic science
May 22, 2017 – BGI, a leading global genomics organization, announced plans to create a West Coast Innovation Center to develop technologies and collaborative projects in life science, global health and related fields.
The BGI Global Innovation Center will be co-located in Seattle, Wash. and San Jose, Calif. to build an ecosystem of innovation in the two high-technology clusters and promote cross-sector collaboration.
Genomics are driving the most important discoveries of our time, delivering life-saving solutions across the globe. This includes securing our food sources, the preservation of biodiversity in the face of climate change, stemming the spread of devastating pandemics and revolutionizing cures for cancer.
Dr. Jian Wang, a pioneer in genomic science, co-founder and President of BGI, visited the West Coast to launch the center, while joining 130 of the world’s top business and technology leaders at the Microsoft CEO Summit. Wang also met with Washington Governor Jay Inslee, University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce and UW Medicine CEO Paul Ramsey and Dr. Linda Buck, Nobel Laureate and researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Jian Wang
Governor Jay Inslee gave Jian Wang a painting of Mount Rainier that he painted himself
“The Center demonstrates BGI’s commitment to international collaboration and to aligning interests and partners to drive innovation,” said Wang, adding that BGI intended to support a number of research initiatives, such as precision medicine and population health efforts at the University of Washington.
“With the partnership between UW Medicine and BGI, more innovations in research, education and healthcare will be developed between Seattle and Shenzhen to benefit the health of people worldwide,” Wang stated.
University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce and Jian Wang
UW Medicine CEO Paul Ramsey and Jian Wang
Wang met with business, health and technology leaders to share insights on key topics, such as:
• Genomics, climate change and preserving the world’s genetic heritage
• The rise of genomics to stem pandemics
• Precision medicine and big data
Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, BGI has offices in Australia, Denmark, Japan and the United States, and expanded to Seattle last year. BGI’s Innovation Center received the endorsement of the City of Shenzhen, which is encouraging international collaboration among leading Shenzhen-based companies.
BGI acquired Complete Genomics, a Mountain View, CA-based sequencing technology company in 2013. Based on CG’s technology, BGI launched its proprietary high-throughput next-gen sequencers, BGISEQ-500 and BGISEQ-50 in 2015 and 2016 respectively in China.
ABOUT BGI
BGI was founded in 1999 with the vision of using genomics to benefit mankind and has since become the largest genomic organization in the world. With a focus on research and applications in the healthcare, agriculture, conservation, and environmental fields, BGI has a proven track record of innovative, high profile research, which has generated over 1,000 publications. BGI’s goal is to make state-of-the-art genomics highly accessible to the global research community and clinical markets by integrating the industry’s broadest array of leading technologies, including BGI’s own sequencing platform, economies of scale, and expert bioinformatics resources. BGI also offers a wide portfolio of transformative genetic testing products across major diseases, enabling medical providers and patients worldwide to realize the promise of genomics-based diagnostics and personalized healthcare.
For more information, visit: www.bgi.com
For more information, contact:
Kristi Heim, Senior Director, Business Development and Communications
Head of International Partnerships
kheim@completegenomics.com
206-778-7411
Media Contact
Company Name: BGI
Contact Person: Kristi Heim
Email: kheim@completegenomics.com
Phone: 206-778-7411
Country: China
Website: www.bgi.com