Create 2025-12-18-keynote-nominees-call-for-comments

Author: nlharris

content/posts/2025-12-18-keynote-nominees-call-for-comments

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+---
+author: Monica Munoz-Torres and Jason Williams
+date: "2025-12-18"
+category:
+ - community
+ - conference
+ - bosc
+
+tag:
+ - community
+ - conference
+ - bosc
+ - ismb
+
+title: "Call for Nominations: BOSC 2026 Keynote Speakers"
+url: /2026/2026-keynote-community-comment/
+
+---
+
+![Chris Mungall keynote - BOSC 2025](/img/2025/bosc2025-img/2025-mungall-keynote-wide.jpg)
+
+We thank our community for the excellent keynote speaker suggestions for [BOSC 2026](/events/bosc).
+The next phase of our selection process invites you to share any concerns about the suitability of the nominated individuals.
+Our [invited speaker selection process and criteria](https://github.com/OBF/bosc_materials/blob/master/invited-speaker-process.md) outline the factors we consider when selecting speakers for BOSC 2026, including characteristics that will exclude a speaker.
+
+Please use **[this anonymous form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe3hUXZ5BQv2-I7DpL-SdEovAVh6Bq9wWgs93FMx5LylAC_Eg/viewform)** to submit any concerns, 
+including as much detail as you are comfortable providing, by **Friday, January 9th, 2026**.
+
+### This year’s nominees are:
+Katy Börner
+Anne Carpenter
+Ishwar Chandramouliswaran
+Kyunghyun Cho
+Francis Collins
+Medha Devare
+Casey Greene
+Eric Green
+Susan Gregurick
+Lukas Heumos
+Mikhail Kolmogorov
+Heng Li
+Thomas Leitner
+Marcia McNutt
+Alondra Nelson
+Sandra Orchard
+Francis Oullette
+Cyril Pommier
+John Quackenbush
+Heidi Sofia
+Paul Thomas
+Kirstie Whitaker
+Maryam Zaringhalam
+
+The BOSC Organizing Committee will extend invitations for keynote speakers using the community-nominated list after the comment period closes.
+Since the Committee cannot guarantee a speaker's acceptance, they may need to consider individuals not on the original list without repeating the entire nomination process.
+However, the Committee remains open to community input if a speaker is believed not to meet the established standards.