A consortium of Swiss institutions launches an initiative designed to enhance human genomic research by providing a secure, legally compliant environment for the deposition and access of sensitive Swiss genomic data. This Swiss Federated European Genome-phenome Archive (Swiss FEGA) will support scientific discoveries, facilitate data sharing, and foster collaboration across national borders. Launched under the coordination of SIB in July, as part of the SPHN initiative, this project aims to join the broader FEGA network, with a live service expected to be operational in 2025.
Partners of the initiative
To achieve the successful operational production of the Swiss FEGA infrastructure by the end of 2025, SIB can rely on the key Swiss project partners who contribute their critical expertise:
- ETH Zürich - Scientific IT Services (SIS): service provider deploying the FEGA software;
- ETH Zürich - NEXUS Personalized Health Technologies: representative of the users (data submitters and requesters) by providing input and assessing the overall usability of the service;
- Health 2030 Genome Center: expert scientific support and community engagement;
- Swiss Data Science Center: development of key tools for managing access to data;
- Switch: infrastructure provider ensuring a secure cloud environment.
For more information, please visit the Swiss FEGA website, or contact us at @email
A secure environment to deposit and access data
To meet the need for a secure environment to deposit and access human genomics data, the Swiss Federated European Genome-phenome Archive is being established as a dedicated national service. This infrastructure will form a new node in the expanding FEGA European network, aligning with broader initiatives on Federated Human Data, supported by organizations such as the Global Alliance for Genomics & Health (GA4GH) and the European life sciences infrastructure, ELIXIR.
Partners of the initiative
To achieve the successful operational production of the Swiss FEGA infrastructure by the end of 2025, SIB can rely on the key Swiss project partners who contribute their critical expertise:
- ETH Zürich - Scientific IT Services (SIS): service provider deploying the FEGA software;
- ETH Zürich - NEXUS Personalized Health Technologies: representative of the users (data submitters and requesters) by providing input and assessing the overall usability of the service;
- Health 2030 Genome Center: expert scientific support and community engagement;
- Swiss Data Science Center: development of key tools for managing access to data;
- Switch: infrastructure provider ensuring a secure cloud environment.
For more information, please visit the Swiss FEGA website, or contact us at @email
The Swiss FEGA node will allow for easy, safe and legally compliant deposition of genomic and other sensitive human data sets, to support scientific discoveries and publications. This service will also allow data sharing and reuse within the genomic and bioinformatic communities to boost research on diseases and prevention. It will be part of the larger FEGA network, supporting safe collaboration on genomic research across national boundaries and allowing for pan-European search of existing genomic datasets, without compromising the security of the data or their legal statute.
The Swiss FEGA project has been launched in July under the coordination of SIB , joining forces with key Swiss partners: ETH Zürich - Scientific IT Services (SIS) and NEXUS Personalized Health Technologies groups, the Health 2030 Genome Center, the Swiss Data Science Center and Switch.The project aims to formally join the existing FEGA network in late 2024 and to deliver a live service ready to receive data in 2025.
Today, researchers working on human genomic data face several roadblocks: where to deposit their data securely, or how to access and analyze genomics data from multiple studies for instance. This is why a secure Swiss federated genomics service is crucial to boost genomic research
Facilitating the use of human genomics data in healthcare research
“Today, researchers working on human genomic data face several roadblocks: where to deposit their data securely, or how to access and analyze genomics data from multiple studies for instance. This is why a secure Swiss federated genomics service is crucial to boost genomic research” says Mark Ibberson, Director of SIB’s Computational Biology group Vital-IT leading the Swiss FEGA project.
FEGA is a global network interconnecting national nodes from across Europe and building on the central European Genome-phenome Archive. Switzerland will join other European countries, such as Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Estonia in setting up a national FEGA node. The need for access to human genomics data is steadily rising in healthcare research, driven by the growing availability of personalized medicine and targeted treatments.
BioMedIT provides a basis for building a Swiss FEGA, leveraging our secure infrastructure, experience with legal compliance and easy user and project management. Adding a FEGA node to the system helps support the full lifecycle of research data from acquisition, to analysis and archiving.
Building on the SPHN and BioMedIT infrastructure
Switzerland is already equipped to support the secure access and work on sensitive health-related data thanks to the secure IT network called the BioMedIT network, which SIB coordinated as part of the Swiss Personalized Health Network initiative (SPHN) in close collaboration with ETH Zürich, University of Basel and University of Lausanne. This network has been designed to enable researchers to temporarily access and have data processed for specific and ethically approved projects but does not constitute a permanent archive as aimed at by the FEGA. The project is financed through the BioMedIT budget.
“BioMedIT provides a basis for building a Swiss FEGA, leveraging our secure infrastructure, experience with legal compliance and easy user and project management”, says Thos Geiger, SPHN Director. "Adding a FEGA node to the system helps support the full lifecycle of research data from acquisition, to analysis and archiving.”
The FEGA service will be provided by ETH’s Scientific IT Services (SIS) unit using secure infrastructure from Switch.
Leveraging Switzerland-wide expertise
Relying on its expertise in genomic data integration, sensitive data management and FAIR data, SIB coordinates the Swiss FEGA setup and production, and acts as the service owner. The institute is leading the coordination, project management, legal framework and governance aspects of the project, through the combined expertise of its Vital-IT Computational Biology group in Lausanne, the Personalized Health Informatics group in Basel and its central Legal and Technology Transfer team. As the Swiss node of ELIXIR and an observer member of the European Genomic Data Infrastructure, the institute is also ideally positioned to lead the international cooperation towards the integration of the Swiss FEGA to the European infrastructure.
Find out more about our international coordination activities
