Iron Hack - A symposium/hackathon focused on porphyrias, Friedreich’s ataxia, and other rare iron-related diseases [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
Gloria C. Ferreira,
Jenna Oberstaller,
Renée Fonseca,
Thomas E. Keller,
Swamy Rakesh Adapa,
Justin Gibbons,
Chengqi Wang,
Xiaoming Liu,
Chang Li,
Minh Pham,
Guy W. Dayhoff II,
Linh M. Duong,
Luis Tañón Reyes,
Luciano Enrique Laratelli,
Douglas Franz,
Segun Fatumo,
ATM Golam Bari,
Audrey Freischel,
Lindsey Fiedler,
Omkar Dokur,
Krishna Sharma,
Deborah Cragun,
Ben Busby,
Rays H.Y. Jiang
Affiliations
Gloria C. Ferreira
Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, MDC 7, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA
Jenna Oberstaller
Global and Planetary Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, USF Genomics Program, 3720 Spectrum Blvd, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA
Renée Fonseca
Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, 12901 Bruce B Downs Blvd, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA
Thomas E. Keller
University of South Florida, USF Genomics Program, 3720 Spectrum Blvd, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA
Swamy Rakesh Adapa
Global and Planetary Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, USF Genomics Program, 3720 Spectrum Blvd, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA
Justin Gibbons
Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, 12901 Bruce B Downs Blvd, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA
Chengqi Wang
Global and Planetary Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, USF Genomics Program, 3720 Spectrum Blvd, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA
Xiaoming Liu
Global and Planetary Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, USF Genomics Program, 3720 Spectrum Blvd, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA
Chang Li
Global and Planetary Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, USF Genomics Program, 3720 Spectrum Blvd, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA
Minh Pham
Center for Urban Transportation Research, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, CUT100, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA
Guy W. Dayhoff II
Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, CHE 205, Tampa, FL, 33620-5250, USA
Linh M. Duong
College of Public Health, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., MDC 56, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA
Luis Tañón Reyes
Department of Cell Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Biology, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Ave, ISA 2015 Tampa, FL, 33620, USA
Luciano Enrique Laratelli
Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, CHE 205, Tampa, FL, 33620-5250, USA
Douglas Franz
Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, CHE 205, Tampa, FL, 33620-5250, USA
Segun Fatumo
MRC/UVRI and LSHTM (Uganda Research Unit), Entebbe, Uganda
ATM Golam Bari
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
Audrey Freischel
Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA
Lindsey Fiedler
College of Public Health, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., MDC 56, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA
Omkar Dokur
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
Krishna Sharma
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA
Deborah Cragun
Global and Planetary Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, USF Genomics Program, 3720 Spectrum Blvd, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA
Ben Busby
National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD, 20894-6075, USA
Rays H.Y. Jiang
Global and Planetary Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, USF Genomics Program, 3720 Spectrum Blvd, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA
Background: Basic and clinical scientific research at the University of South Florida (USF) have intersected to support a multi-faceted approach around a common focus on rare iron-related diseases. We proposed a modified version of the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s (NCBI) Hackathon-model to take full advantage of local expertise in building “Iron Hack”, a rare disease-focused hackathon. As the collaborative, problem-solving nature of hackathons tends to attract participants of highly-diverse backgrounds, organizers facilitated a symposium on rare iron-related diseases, specifically porphyrias and Friedreich’s ataxia, pitched at general audiences. Methods: The hackathon was structured to begin each day with presentations by expert clinicians, genetic counselors, researchers focused on molecular and cellular biology, public health/global health, genetics/genomics, computational biology, bioinformatics, biomolecular science, bioengineering, and computer science, as well as guest speakers from the American Porphyria Foundation (APF) and Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) to inform participants as to the human impact of these diseases. Results: As a result of this hackathon, we developed resources that are relevant not only to these specific disease-models, but also to other rare diseases and general bioinformatics problems. Within two and a half days, “Iron Hack” participants successfully built collaborative projects to visualize data, build databases, improve rare disease diagnosis, and study rare-disease inheritance. Conclusions: The purpose of this manuscript is to demonstrate the utility of a hackathon model to generate prototypes of generalizable tools for a given disease and train clinicians and data scientists to interact more effectively.
