Hi, my name is

Sara

El-Gebali

I’m a strong advocate for equity and inclusion of individuals from marginalized groups in STEM fields. I’m also a passionate community builder and research data manager specialized in metadata and curation with a passion for OpenScience and all things FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperably, Resuable).

Resume

About Me

I’m a serial expat who finally returned home after 14 years being abroad pursuing science in one form or the other. It all started with a trip to London and a bursary to study the inner workings of cancer progression on a molecular level which then led me to my PhD in Switzerland where I examined the proliferation mechanisms of colon cancer in the wet-lab. At the time, the introduction of high-throughput mechanisms was just at the start and by the end of my project, I was faced with the inundating question of: What now? What do I do with all this data.

A question that unbeknown to me would kick start a whole career trying to answer it. After Switzerland I moved to Germany and the UK then back to Germany and to Sweden where I am a project lead for metadata and curation at the SciLifeLab-DataCentre. If you wanna know more about what I did have a look below!

I am a strong advocate for community building and the promotion of individuals from marginalised and underrepresented groups in STEM, which has led me to founding OpenCIDER and cofounding FAIRPoints which are very close to my heart and are aligned with my values and commitment towards Open and FAIR data practices.

What am I currently working on?
  • FAIRPoints
  • Sample & Metadata Handling in LifeSciences
  • FAIRSoftware
  • Research Data Management Training
  • OpenCIDER: Open Computational Inclusion & Digital Equity Resource

Experience

Project Lead-Metadata & Curation - SciLifeLab-DataCentre-Sweden
August 2021 - present

I am currently working as a Project Lead-Metadata & Curation SciLifeLab-DataCentre in Sweden. My main tasks include:

  • Setting up technical systems for handling large datasets mostly produced by infrastructure facilities as well as researchers from the Data Driven Life Science program
  • Setting up technical infrastructures for safe data storage and handling of clinical research data (e.g. Trusted Research environments)
  • Mapping out and aligning activities related to Life Science Research Data Management training efforts on a national level
  • Contributing to national and international efforts towards promotion of Open and FAIR scientific practices (e.g. GO BUILD US,BY-Covid, European Waste Water Surveillance, RDA groups)
Co-Founder of FAIRPoints - FAIRPoints
January 2021 - present

FAIRPoints is an event series highlighting pragmatic measures developed by the community towards the implementation of the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data principles. My main tasks include:

  • Curation of event themes and topics
  • Developing and adapting metadata schemas for representation of event summaries, see resources
  • Coordinating community activities and output
  • Establishing partnerships models and engaging with a variety of organizations including GoFAIR US, SDSC, AGU, and SciLifeLab Data Centre
  • Connecting and collecting heterogeneous input from a global perspective and supporting equitable access
  • Developing FAIR for beginners training material together with community members
Head of Research Data Management - MDC-Germany
June 2020 - July 2021

My main tasks included:

  • Establishing the research data management unit
  • Creating policies, guidelines, strategies & roadmap
  • Consultations on Scientific Computing projects (e.g. archiving, human research data handling)
  • Community building promoting Open & FAIR Research practices
  • Providing support and advice for researchers
  • Providing training and workshops
  • Carpentries Certified Instructor & lead lesson maintainer for FAIR library lesson
  • Delivering technical solutions for data handling
  • Facilitating data management from infrastructures including genomics and imaging
Scientific Database Curator - EMBL-EBI-UK
June 2016 - Aug 2019

My main tasks included:

  • Curation and analysis of large protein sequence datasets
  • Teaching bioinformatics resources for protein biology
  • Creating online educational resources
  • Contributed to regulatory and governance processes as a member of the Staff Association committee
  • Promoting Open Data practices and FAIR principles
Scientific Data editor - EMBO-Germany
Jan 2015 - June 2016

My main tasks included:

  • Analysis and interpretation of the scientific content i.e. curation, creating structured and machine-readable metadata
  • Co-ordinating activities with software and bioinformatics teams
  • Creating workflows for editorial and production processes
  • Create new avenues for promoting the project

Projects

FAIRPoints
FAIRPoints
I am the co-founder of FAIRPoints, an event series highlighting pragmatic measures developed by the community towards the implementation of the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data principles. We work with GoFAIR US, SDSC, AGU, and SciLifeLab Data Centre to bridge the divide by bringing together the research community across geographic and domain areas in order to cultivate researchers engagement in FAIR on a global scale.
FAIRPoints
OpenCIDER
OpenCIDER
I am the founder of OpenCIDER (Open Computational Inclusion & Digital Equity Resource). It is a knowledge space where we highlight communities and resources related to several aspects under the umbrella of Open Data from a global perspective to ensure equitable and effective engagement from underrepresented groups.
OpenCIDER
Open Life Science
Open Life Science
I'm an Open Life Science mentor, currently supporting the project titled "Development of an Open Source Platform for the Storage, Sharing, Synthesis and Meta-Analysis of Clinical Data". I'm also one of the listed experts on Research Data Management and Open Science practices in the program.
Open Life Science

Other bits

EDI in Science award
Awarded Wellcome Genome Campus Award for Best Practice award for Supporting Equality and Diversity in Science 2019
Innovation Leaders 2020
I participated in the eLife Innovation Leaders program, a 14-week open leadership training and mentorship programme designed for innovators developing prototypes or community projects, aimed at improving open science and research communication.
Outhinkers- Pride in STEM
I'm an LGBTQ+ advocate and participated in a number of events including PrideInStem
OBF award Recipients 2019
Recipient of the April 2019 OBF Travel Fellowship recipients to attend CarpentryConnect Manchester 2019.
Open Science FAIR Symposium
Talk from Open Science FAIR Symposium
Research Data Management 1 day workshop
Materials for 1 full-day workshop on Research Data Management basics.
SourceData
A semantic platform for curating and searching figures
CarpentryCon2020
Supported the organization of CarpentryCon2020
Mozfest 2018
Delivered a session in Mozfest 2018 in the openness space titled "Science for the people" on effective communication of scientific principles to enhance citizen engagement and citizen science.
Ournetworks 2020
Delivered a workshop titled "Open Data, Diversity and Collaboration in Action " at OurNetworks.
Hobbies
Hiking, travelling, cooking, listening to podcasts (e.g. Ethical rain maker, The guilty feminist),

Education

2010 - 2014
PhD
University of Bern, Switzerland
Graduate project investigating the role of metabolic cell signaling pathways and amino acid transporters in colon cancer progression.
2007 - 2008
MSc
QMUL: Queen Mary University of London, UK
Graduate project investigating cancer related inflammation in skin carcinogenesis. Awarded the Cancer Research UK bursary.
BSc
University of Lund, Sweden
Graduate studies in Molecular Biology.

Get In Touch

Happy to connect my email is always open!
Mail me