Case Study: Okayama University accelerates COPD multiomics analysis with Illumina Connected Analytics

Okayama University completes WES in 50 minutes and WGS in 2.5 hours with Illumina

Researchers at Okayama University in Japan, led by Dr. Shuta Tomida, faced a tight five-month deadline to complete a multiomics project investigating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The challenge was to securely and efficiently analyze large volumes of whole-genome, exome, transcriptome, and metagenome sequencing data using a solution housed within Japan. They partnered with Illumina to find a suitable high-performance computing solution.

Illumina implemented its Illumina Connected Analytics platform on an Amazon Web Services Tokyo server, providing access to various DRAGEN pipelines for secondary analysis. The Illumina team also collaborated to build a custom DRAGEN Metagenomics pipeline. This solution drastically reduced analysis times, with whole-exome sequencing analysis taking about 50 minutes and whole-genome sequencing analysis taking approximately 2.5 hours. The project was completed on time and within budget, leading Dr. Tomida to secure funding for a larger follow-up study and plan to continue using the Illumina solution.

Okayama University