Invited Sessions

For general questions or if you are unsure whom to contact, email programs@ashg.org.

The members of the Program Committee (PC) are available for questions and discussions to help you frame or design your proposal.

Invited sessions are developed and proposed by ASHG members around a particular topic of interest and are held in concurrent timeslots. Submitting an invited proposal offers ASHG members the opportunity to directly participate in the development of the scientific program. Through a rigorous review process, the ASHG Program Committee assembles the best program possible on a diverse set of topics in human genetics.

ASHG urges proposers to invite presenters and moderators from a broad mix of institutions, locations, and diverse demographic backgrounds who represent a variety of labs and disciplines bringing data and/or perspectives from multiple projects to a shared topic of interest. Panels utilizing creative and engaging formats with voices from various career stages and groups underrepresented in science are encouraged.

Submissions are closed.

Submission Site Opens: December 2022

Submission Deadline: January 25, 2023 at 8:00 pm EST

Decision Date: Spring 2023

Proposers/Moderators: Must be current ASHG members. Renew your 2023 membership.

Speakers Required: Four speakers, plus two moderators (see criteria/policies below)

Session Duration: 90 minutes

Format: Didactic sessions with four 15-minute talks followed by Q&A or panel discussion. Panel/debate style sessions are encouraged.

Topics Considered: Invited Sessions are developed and proposed by ASHG members and address the state of the science on a specific topic. The following are some desired topics that would be welcomed by the Program Committee.

Scientific: Basic/Fundamental Research

  • incorporating all aspects of human genetics research, particularly topics that integrate multiple basic science and clinical aspects of human genetic disease.
  • that integrates multiple new approaches, technologies, model systems, or perspectives to address fundamental questions in genetics and genomics

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

  • examining and seeking to address systemic racism in the genetic and genomic research enterprise including training, study design, recruitment and engagement of participants, analysis of data, and dissemination of research findings.
  • related to research practices in health disparities as well as clinical and public health applications of human genetics.

Social, Ethical, and Policy Issues

  • raised by applications of genomic technologies outside health and healthcare, including, but not limited to, education, forensics, immigration, human behavior, human evolution, human history and migration, and recreational applications.
  • raised by the application of polygenic risk scores in preventive healthcare and public health, as well as applications outside health and healthcare.
  • elucidating gene-by-environment interactions, including social determinants of health, in the causation of health disparities, as well as analysis of the social, ethical, and policy implications of this research.

Education

  • proposals that address research and best practices in genetics education at all levels, including training for academics and professionals; and education of research participants, patients, consumers, and the public.
Tips for Crafting Proposals
  • Choose the right topic. Proposals that do well have a cohesive, overarching theme that has not been presented at recent meetings. Topics should have broad appeal to ASHG meeting attendees.
  • Choose the right speakers. Competitive proposals involve presenters who push the field forward while offering unique perspectives on the topic of focus.
  • Craft clear descriptions. Successful proposals have clear, detailed descriptions of each speaker’s talk. These should relate to the overall session theme and include recent data when possible.
Proposal Guidelines and Speaker/Moderator Policies
  • Proposals are due January 25, 2023. The deadline will not be extended as review begins immediately. Before submitting a proposal, contact all speakers to ensure their availability as well as to obtain their agreement with ASHG policies. Review the step-by-step instructions below before entering the submission site.
  • ASHG believes in the importance of diverse representation in speakers and moderators, including gender, ethnicity, career stage, and balance of institution representation. Proposers are required to include diverse speakers when crafting a session. Diversity in speakers as well as diversity of genetic data are some of the criteria used by the Program Committee to evaluate proposals.
  • Proposals that are proposed, moderated, and presented by trainees are encouraged. At least one slot will be allocated as a trainee session.
  • Proposers/Moderators: The proposer and co-moderator must be current 2023 ASHG members. Proposers must serve as one of the session moderators. Renew or join here.
  • Speakers:
    • There should be no more than four speakers within a given session.
    • It is important to check to make sure a speaker is not being asked to serve in more than one session.
    • There is a limit of two non-member speakers per session and only one non-member from outside of North America.
    • A member speaker is defined as a person who is/was a member of ASHG during any of these three years (2023, 2022, 2021). Non-member speakers are also offered funds to offset travel costs.
    • All speakers are provided complimentary registration to recognize their special contribution to the Annual Meeting.
  • Speakers and moderators can only be in one accepted proposal. If you are the moderator and/or speaker in two accepted proposals, a replacement must be found for one of the proposals.
  • Program Committee members are not permitted to speak in or moderate Invited Sessions during their tenure.
Step-by-Step Submission Instructions
  • Pre-submission: Update ASHG Membership Information
    Before logging in to submit your proposal, confirm that your name and contact information are correct in your ASHG membership account. The email address on your account will be used for all communications regarding your proposal and cannot be edited once you begin. The proposer must be a current 2023 ASHG member and must serve as one of the session moderators.

    • If you cannot remember your ASHG login please do NOT make a new login, contact membership@ashg.org.

We recommend you draft your proposal in a separate document first so that you can cut and paste details into the submission form. You may save a partially completed submission and return to it at a future date.

  • Step 1: Beginning a New Submission
    Sign into the ASHG website to arrive at the submission portal. Select “Add New” to begin a new submission.
  • Step 2: Basic Session Information
    Enter a title, topic area, track, primary audience, and session type for your session. This page MUST be completed first. Saving this page will automatically create a draft to which you can return at any time until the deadline.
  • Step 3: Detailed Session Information
    Enter the information described in each step, including:

    • Your session description, written for meeting participants, maximum 2500 characters including spaces
    • Whether you propose to include a panel discussion and, if yes, what you hope to accomplish during that time and some examples of questions you might discuss
    • Your rationale in proposing the session, including the target audience, for Program Committee review only. Specify what participants will gain from attending.
    • How your session attends to diversity and inclusion
    • Four learning objectives for your session, focusing on the broad outcomes intended for the audience
  • Step 4: Proposer/Moderator
    Use the people lookup function to search for yourself in the ASHG community database and add yourself as the proposer/moderator. If you do not intend to moderate the session, cancel the submission and ask someone who is interested in moderating a session to submit the proposal.
  • Step 5: Co-moderator
    Please add a co-moderator to your session, use the people lookup function to search for them in the ASHG community database. Reminder: Your co-moderator must be an ASHG member. If your co-moderator is also a speaker, they need to be added as both a speaker and as a co-moderator.
  • Step 6:  Speaker
    Use the people lookup function to search for each of your four speakers in the ASHG community database and add them to your proposal. If you cannot find a speaker in the database, you will be given an option to add them after searching. If a speaker is also a moderator, they need to be added as both a speaker and as a moderator. After adding each speaker, enter their talk title and description and save the entry. The description is for meeting participants and should include specific results that the speaker will discuss, not a general overview of their qualifications (maximum 2500 characters, including spaces). Your speakers should conform to the speaker selection policies above. Proposals that do not follow these policies will not be accepted. After adding your speakers, you will have the option to reorder them using “Sort Order” or further edit their information. Once you have finished adding all your speakers and click ‘Continue,’ your proposal will be submitted (if you have completed the rest of the submission properly). There is no separate “submit” button.
  • Step 7: Review Summary and Complete Submission
    Review the full session information under the “Summary” tab. If you have missed any required information, there will be a notice at the top. You can also create a printer-friendly version of the submission on this page. A successful submission will prompt a confirmation email. You will not receive additional confirmations if you edit your proposal.
  • To withdraw a completed proposal, contact programs@ashg.org.
Review Process
  • After the deadline, proposals go under immediate review. The first step of this review is blinded.
  • All proposals are reviewed by the Program Committee (PC), who are not permitted to speak in or moderate sessions during their tenure.
  • Final decisions will be sent to all proposers in Spring 2023.
  • During the review period, proposers may be contacted by a member of the PC and may be asked to provide additional details, as explained below.
    • The review of proposals is a multi-stage process. The following steps are taken in a genuine effort to ensure the best possible scientific program containing high-quality sessions.
    • The PC first shortlists proposals and determines which of the shortlisted proposals need to be revised.
    • PC representatives reach out to a subset of proposers with recommendations for revisions, which may include speaker substitutions or merging two or more similar proposals. Proposers contacted by the PC are given a short window to address requests and submit revisions. The PC reevaluates the revised proposals and selects the final list of accepted proposals.
    • Although every effort may be taken by a proposer to make the requested alterations, the PC will invariably need to reduce shortlisted proposals further to achieve a final collection of sessions with sufficient breadth for the meeting. This may mean that, even with suggested changes, a proposal may not be accepted.
  • Proposers should share a copy of these instructions with every potential speaker to make them aware of ASHG policies and how the proposals are evaluated and selected.
Commercial Lab Eligibility
  • All interested groups are eligible to submit an invited session proposal, regardless of status as a commercial lab. Any proposals from commercial labs accepted for programming would be slotted into a non-CME eligible session. Submissions are welcome from all labs.
  • Proposals should contain novel findings and not be primarily promotional for a product or service. We also offer separate paid speaking opportunities through our Exhibits team, including our popular CoLab sessions in the Exhibit & Poster Hall. Please visit our Exhibits page or reach out to exhibits@ashg.org with questions.

 

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