On January 21th, 2022, the OPTOMICS partners and researchers met for the 1st Ethics Workshop and 1st Consortium Meeting. During the Ethics Workshop, all members of the project were trained on protocols to ensure proper care is taken toward the handling of data in the OPTOMICS project.

After the Ethics Workshop was complete, the lead investigators of the partners met for the 1st Consortium Meeting, during which key personnel presented the work and achievements of the project thus far and next steps toward achieving our goals. Important deadlines, potential risks and mitigation strategies, and goals were discussed and new team members were introduced. The meeting was held online due to the ongoing global situation with SARS-CoV2.