[Seminar] How good is your Next Generation Sequencing?

Setting a benchmark for the quality of diagnostic sequencing.

Dr Patton is based in Manchester, United Kingdom where he directs the European Molecular Genetics Quality Network (EMQN) within the Manchester Centre for Genomic Medicine. The EMQN is the global leader in the provision of External Quality Assessment (EQA) schemes to diagnostic laboratories in the fields of genetics and pathology.

The EMQN was established in 1998 after a successful pilot trial of a Huntington disease EQA scheme the previous year. From January 1999 to March 2002, the network was supported by a grant from the European Commission under the Standards Measurement and Testing Programme (contract number SMT4-CT98-7515). Since April 2002, EMQN activities have been supported by subscriptions from EQA scheme participants and currently EMQN offers molecular genetics, molecular pathology, and technique specific EQA schemes for molecular testing.

Dr Patton’s work has focussed on global improvement in the standards and quality of diagnostic laboratory testing. His interests are in genetics, quality in healthcare, accreditation, standardisation of laboratory testing and best practice guidelines. He trained at the University of Liverpool in marine biology, before doing his doctorate in Genetics at the University of Cambridge.