Author Archives: Andreas Scherer

About Andreas Scherer

Dr. Andreas Scherer is CEO of Golden Helix. The company has been delivering industry leading bioinformatics solutions for the advancement of life science research and translational medicine for over a decade. Its innovative technologies and analytic services empower scientists and healthcare professionals at all levels to derive meaning from the rapidly increasing volumes of genomic data produced from next-generation sequencing. With its solutions, hundreds of the world’s hospitals and testing labs are able to harness the full potential of genomics to identify the cause of disease, develop genomic diagnostics, and advance the quest for personalized medicine. Golden Helix products and services have been cited in thousands of peer-reviewed publications. Golden Helix is also on the Inc 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the US. He is also Managing Partner of Salto Partners, Inc, a management consulting firm headquartered in Nevada.  He has extensive experience successfully managing growth as well as orchestrating complex turnaround situations. His company, Salto Partners, advises on business strategy, financing, sales, and operations. Clients are operating in the high-tech and life sciences space. Dr. Scherer holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Hagen, Germany, and a Master of Computer Science from the University of Dortmund, Germany. He is author and co- author of over 20 international publications and has written books on project management, the Internet, and artificial intelligence. His latest book, “Be Fast Or Be Gone”, is a prizewinner in the 2012 Eric Hoffer Book Awards competition, and has been named a finalist in the 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Awards! 

  

Clinical Variant Analysis for Cancer: Part II

         June 13, 2019

Clinical Variant Analysis for Cancer – Applying AMP Guidelines to Analyze Somatic Variants Analogous to the ACMG guidelines for germline mutations, the Association for Molecular Pathologists (AMP) has issued guidelines to assess and report on somatic variants. The key paper in this area was published by Li et. al (2017) with the title “Standards and Guidelines for the Interpretation and… Read more »

Clinical Variant Analysis for Cancer: Part I

         June 11, 2019

Clinical Variant Analysis for Cancer – Applying AMP Guidelines to Analyze Somatic Variants Precision Medicine uses genetic information from individual patients. This may include the following areas: Diagnosis Treatment Prevention Specifically, in the cancer space, data derived from Next-Gen Sequencing (NGS) is used to diagnose and prognose diseases, select a targeted therapy and potentially evaluate the suitability of a patient… Read more »

New eBook Release: Clinical Variant Analysis for Cancer

         June 6, 2019

Applying AMP Guidelines to Analyze Somatic Variants Today, I am thrilled to share with you the launch of a brand new eBook titled “Clinical Variant Analysis for Cancer – Applying AMP Guidelines to Analyze Somatic Variants”. We would happy to send you a complimentary copy which can be requested on our website here. The clinical utilization of Next-Gen Sequencing data… Read more »

Genetic Testing for Cancer – New Version Release

         June 5, 2019

Yesterday, I released a new version of my eBook, “Genetic Testing for Cancer – Third Edition”. We would be happy to send you one! To download a complimentary copy, please submit a request on our site here. In 1914, the German cytologist Theodor Boveri coined the phrase “Cancer is a disease of the genome.” At this time, his ideas were… Read more »

Clinical Variant Analysis: Part V

         March 5, 2019

Examples of Clinical Variant Interpretation with VSClinical In this chapter, I’d like to go through a few examples for variants that have been classified with the help of VSClinical. This will give you a better understanding of how data sources are actually being represented in the software and how those are used to make decisions on applicable criteria. It goes… Read more »

Clinical Variant Analysis: Part IV

         February 28, 2019

Rules for Combining Various Classification Criteria Now that we have a solid understanding of how the various criteria are meant to be applied, it’s time to look at how the evidence collectively leads to the clinical categorization of a variant. Let’s go through the rule framework for combining the various criteria. Pathogenic In order for a variant to be classified… Read more »

Clinical Variant Analysis: Part III

         February 26, 2019

Clinical Variant Analysis – Classification Criteria of Benign Variants The classification of benign variants is overall simpler and more straightforward, with the majority of benign variants being eliminated through allele frequency in various population catalogs. BA1 If a variant is common in one or more population catalog, as indicated by the allele frequency associated by the appropriate sub-population, it can… Read more »

2019 Abstract Competition Winners

         February 25, 2019
Call for Abstracts

We would like to thank everyone who entered our 2019 Abstract Competition. This event is an excellent opportunity for our team to hear the unique ways Golden Helix software is being applied around the world. We had a number of remarkable entries this year which made our selection process a daunting one, indeed. It is my pleasure to announce this… Read more »

Clinical Variant Analysis: Part II

         February 25, 2019

Clinical Variant Analysis – Classification Criteria of Pathogenic Variants The ACMG Guidelines are utilized for the interpretation of variants. They are primarily applied to diagnose suspected inherited (primarily Mendelian) disorders in a clinical diagnostic laboratory setting. While evaluating variants no matter what the origin, it is important to distinguish between variants that are pathogenic (i.e., causative) for a disease and a… Read more »

Clinical Variant Analysis: Part I

         February 19, 2019

Clinical Variant Analysis – Applying ACMG Guidelines to Analyze Germline Diseases The clinical interpretation of genetic variants is time-consuming and requires strict attention to detail. Clinicians must thoroughly review any variants that could potentially cause disease using a complex set of guidelines. There are guidelines for the interpretation of variants relating to hereditary risk, germline diagnostics issued by the American… Read more »

New eBook Release: Clinical Variant Analysis

         February 18, 2019

I am excited to announce the release of my new eBook “Clinical Variant Analysis – Applying ACMG Guidelines to Analyze Germline Diseases“! You can download your complimentary by clicking on the button below. The clinical interpretation of variants in Next-Gen Sequencing is a quickly evolving field. While the body of knowledge is growing exponentially, experts have to derive sound, clinical decisions leveraging an… Read more »

Secondary Analysis 3.0 – New Version Release

         January 7, 2019

We have released a new version of my eBook, “Secondary Analysis 3.0”. To download a complimentary copy, I encourage you to do so here. Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) promises to be the ultimate paradigm when it comes to genetic research and clinical testing since it contains the complete genetic information. When it comes to the current reality in testing labs, there… Read more »

Future Direction of Golden Helix

         September 19, 2018

Celebrating our 20th Anniversary on September 15th, we took some time to reflect on the last two decades in this industry. Two decades of learning, adaption, and growth on the business side as well as the personal side. Employees began their careers with us, made new friends and started their own families. These past 20 years are full of stories… Read more »

Top 10 Analytics Solution Providers – Pharma Tech Outlook

         May 15, 2018
Top 10

We are incredibly honored to be recognized as one of the Top 10 Analytics Solution Providers of 2018 by Pharma Tech Outlook. “Through innovative products, Golden Helix has been simplifying the clinical workflows and genomic testing for numerous labs. For instance, Prevention Genetics, a clinical testing laboratory offering genetic and DNA banking services with the largest menu of gene sequencing… Read more »

Clinical Variant Interpretation Based on ACMG Guidelines – Part II

         April 17, 2018
VarSeq annotations

We just came back from ACMG in North Carolina where we launched our new product VSClinical. The reception has been terrific and our booth has never been as frequented. We had record level visitors and demo presentations. So, what is all that buzz about this new product? Why do people care so much and how does it help a clinical… Read more »

Clinical Variant Interpretation Based on ACMG Guidelines – Part I

         April 9, 2018
VSClinical

The clinical interpretation of variants is time-consuming and requires attention to details. Clinicians are being asked to thoroughly review any variants that could potentially cause disease. There are guidelines for the interpretation of variants relating to hereditary risk, germline diagnostics, and molecular oncology panels, such as those issued by the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG), which are nationally and internationally… Read more »

Third-Place Abstract Competition Winner

         February 22, 2018

I would like to congratulate our third and final winner of the 2017-18 Abstract Competition, Suxu Tan, a current PhD Student at Auburn University. Our first and second place winners, Michael Iacocca and Nicole Weaver, performed their research using VarSeq. Suxu, however, used SVS to conduct the research in his paper ‘GWAS analysis of QTL for resistance against Edwardsiella ictaluri in… Read more »