About Us

When The Festival of Genomics & Biodata began, we set out to build an exciting and inclusive event, with an initial vision of delivering the very first ‘Woodstock for genomics'.

We hoped to get people excited about genomics and raise awareness of its potential impact for patients. Since then, much has changed. The Festival has expanded well beyond it's initial scope - into areas as diverse as drug discovery and development, precision medicine, AI & biodata, single cell and spatial analysis, liquid biopsy, proteomics, multi-omics and much more. 

The UK's Festival is now the UK's largest life sciences event. The Boston Festival is growing rapidly. 

Here's more about our story, from Richard Lumb, CEO of Front Line Genomics and Founder of The Festival:

“When I had the idea of organising a large life sciences event back in 2013, I never would have dreamt that it would turn into the size of the event it is today. I was motivated by the loss of my dad to a rare form of cancer – mesothelioma - back in 2009.

There was so much excitement about the potential of genomics, but this was not yet making a difference for patients like my dad (and others in my family).

Perhaps naively, and driven by a quiet rage, I wanted to change that.

This led to a simple mission:

To deliver the benefits of genomics to patients faster.

It also led to me setting up Front Line Genomics, the company that organises the Festival."

The initial idea with the Festival was to do three things:

1. Try to create an event that was free for most people to attend so that more people would have access, and – ultimately – this would maximise the benefit for patients.

2. Break down silos, and bring people together from healthcare, pharma and the research sector (plus other stakeholders), so that we could accelerate translation from ground-breaking research to improving patient outcomes.

3. Get people engaged, excited and educated by genomics , which was still a new topic for many people at the time.

The Festivals Today

The two Festivals (in London and Boston) today are very different to how they were in those first editions back in 2015. I am proud of the role the Festivals play, particularly the free access we provide to so many attendees, the focus on translational research that impacts patients, encouraging innovation, creating new collaborations, and in showcasing and promoting developments in life sciences.

One thing we DO need to get better at is helping people break the connection between price and value. There is a perception, particularly in the United States (we are better known in the UK), that because the Festival is free, it's not as good as an event someone would pay $1000s for. 

That couldn't be further from the truth.

One of the core goals of the Festival is that we create the world's best life sciences event (defined mostly by the benefits attendees bring back to their workplace), at little or no cost. That way, as many people as possible benefit from the Festival, so that we have the biggest possible impact on patient outcomes. 

The Festival has also expanded well beyond its initial scope. It covers so many more aspects of pharma R&D, disease research and healthcare than it used to. 

For instance, the handling, analysis and incorporation of other forms of biodata; transcriptomics and proteomics (and multi-omics in general) to understand what is happening in individual patients, downstream of the genome; the development of new diagnostic tools such as liquid biopsy; leveraging of exciting new methodologies such as single cell and spatial analysis; and - of course - the growing adoption and short-term translation of AI into better drug discovery and development, and better patient outcomes in general.

Ultimately, the goal - hopefully one that we ALL share - is to deliver better patient outcomes. I hope that you can attend the Festival, and leave armed with intelligence, information, tools, tips, insights, connections and partnerships that will help you make progress for patients."