Next-generation genomic sequencing is transforming what is known about pediatric cancer and how we treat patients. But even with new technologies, challenges remain. In the past, the sheer size of genomics data has made sharing across the global scientific community a challenge. St. Jude Cloud is a new data ecosystem developed to advance cures by reducing the technological barriers to data sharing and analysis. Developed by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in partnership with Microsoft and DNAnexus, St. Jude Cloud is the world’s largest public repository of pediatric cancer genomics data and offers unique analysis tools and visualizations in a secure cloud-based environment. Access to data is simple, fast and does not require downloading prior to exploration. Researchers can also upload their own data in a private, password-protected environment to use the St. Jude Cloud visualization and analysis tools.

In this webinar, Scott Newman, PhD, biological lead and Clay McLeod, lead developer of St. Jude Cloud, will provide an overview of this growing data-sharing platform that includes more than 5,000 whole-genome, 5,000 whole-exome and 1,200 RNA-Seq datasets from more than 5,000 pediatric cancer patients and survivors. They will also demonstrate the collection of bioinformatics tools and unique visualizations to help both experts and non-specialists gain novel insights from genomics data.

Specific use cases will be covered. For example, the team discovered mutations connected to UV damage in a B-cell leukemia in work that was recently published in Nature. The finding led the team to use the rapid computing capabilities of the St. Jude Cloud to discover if other leukemia samples not included in the original study might have similar patterns of mutations.

If desired, participants may explore St. Jude Cloud before the webinar and register as users at https://www.stjude.cloud.

Learning objectives:

• Explore data, tools and visualizations that are available in St. Jude Cloud.
• Understand how to use St. Jude Cloud to request, access and visualize St. Jude genomics data
• Understand how to use St. Jude Cloud to upload and analyze user-generated data