Video summary
The story of Galaxy began around 2005 as an independent, unfunded homegrown lab project developed by a small team in Boston that included the speaker and James Taylor. The pivotal moment for its growth occurred when they met Ross Lazarus at a conference in a suburb near Harvard Medical School in 2006. Ross immediately recognized the potential of their work but was critical of their initial grant proposal, advising them that scientific ideas must be wrapped in a compelling narrative to capture the limited attention span of reviewers. He taught them that even if the specific details were not fully fleshed out yet, presenting a strong story was essential for securing funding. Following this guidance and a few attempts, they successfully obtained funding, marking the transition from a casual experiment to a legitimate research initiative.
Ross's influence extended far beyond grant writing, as he actively pushed the team to professionalize their operations by organizing workshops and eventually establishing a formal conference. To solve the logistical challenge of providing Wi-Fi at an expensive 2007 meeting in San Diego, Ross, James, and the speaker ingeniously hid a router in a bag to ensure connectivity, setting a precedent for practical problem-solving within the community. This momentum led to the organization of their first official conference in 2010 with approximately $50,000 in funding, where Ross was present and even designed the iconic red t-shirt that became a symbol of the Galaxy identity. His vision helped transform a small group into a structured organization, leading to the creation of the Intergalactic Utility Commission (IUC) in subsequent years, which fostered a collaborative environment that grew to include over 400 people and resulted in the development of more than 2,000 tools.
Although Ross eventually retired around 2015 and moved back to Australia, where he enjoyed life at Bondi Beach, his connection with the community remained deep and meaningful. The speaker recalls a touching email from Ross explaining his retirement as drifting into "another galaxy," highlighting his humor and dedication to family. Despite the distance, their relationship strengthened during difficult times, particularly following the death of James Taylor and the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. During this period, Ross returned to actively support the community, helping to establish proper governance models and re-engaging with projects like the Vertebrate Genome Project. His presence was most celebrated during the 2023 Galaxy Community Conference in Brisbane, where he visited Australia, shared a dinner with colleagues, and spent weeks coding, mentoring, and planning future scientific endeavors from his home in Melbourne.
Ultimately, Ross Lazarus is remembered not just as a collaborator but as a parental figure and an enduring source of optimism for the entire Galaxy community. He possessed a unique ability to motivate others to push boundaries even when they felt bored, unsure, or discouraged, often suggesting that one simply start coding to overcome negative moods. His legacy is evident in the robust infrastructure, the large global community, and the thousands of tools that continue to advance genomic research today. Even after his retirement, his spirit remained integral to the project's success, inspiring a generation of developers to build upon the foundation he laid. The narrative concludes with a profound sense of gratitude for his contributions, acknowledging that without Ross's early guidance, encouragement, and continued support, the Galaxy project would not have reached its current stature or sustained momentum.
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So, Galaxy started in about 2005
probably and we had nobody to to use it.
We had nobody who developed it and then
we got this email from somebody in
Harvard.
Uh and that person was Ross and he was
the first user/developer.
And this was probably 2006.
So, it was 2005-2006.
It was definitely around that time
frame. I just don't remember exactly
which year it was.
Uh and we then went to Boston. It was me
and James Taylor and the other Galaxy PI
at the time. Well, we weren't really PIs
at the time because nothing was funded.
So, it was just
homegrown lab project. That was That's
what it was.
And then we had some kind of a
conference in Boston and [sighs]
we met Ross.
I uh it was in um
>> [sighs]
>> Um I forgot how this suburb of of a
Boston called where the Harvard Medical
School was, but I I still remember this
intersection where we met. And you know,
one of the first thing that he said and
let's we need to write a grant because
we need to
fund this properly.
And
we wrote our first grant and we sent it
to Ross and um
he was not happy with this.
Basically, he thought that if we're
going to write like this, we're never
going to get anything funded.
>> [snorts]
>> And he kind of showed us the way.
It's hard to describe what exactly he
showed, but this was um
This was basically the message was
Ross's message was that you need to make
a good story.
It doesn't matter whether you if you
exactly going to do this or not, but you
just need to make a good story because
the attention span of people who read
those things is not more than one page.
So, you at least need to make one page
pretty.
And that's what we did. And after about
one or two attempts, or three attempts,
we got it funded.
And And then, of course,
uh he pushed us to do more. And that
more was to do a kind of a little
workshop for developers.
And the first of these workshops we did
in either 2007 or 2008, probably 2007 at
American Society for Human Genetics
meeting. It was in San Diego.
And
we needed to do a workshop. If you want
to do a workshop, you need Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi
was very expensive. So, Ross, James, and
I, we had a solution. We brought a
router, which we hid in a bag. We put it
in the room, and we got everything
connected against kind of a the
conference rules. And everything worked
wonderfully.
And of course, Ross didn't stop there,
either. He said, "Well, a proper project
needs to have a conference."
And since we now knew how to write, you
know, these things called grants, so we
wrote a little thing,
got something around $50,000 to organize
the first conference, which was in 2010.
And he was at that conference.
So, in fact, I have some little slides
here from our
um history of Galaxy deck. And they
feature Ross prominently.
So, as I said in the beginning, he was
the Galaxy community. He suggested
having a conference. And he also said
that conferences need t-shirts, and he
designed the first t-shirt shown in red
here. Well, I still have that original.
I don't think I I ever wore this thing.
I It's It's um
It's a very valuable item.
Uh and
um
that was This is how it all started. So,
without him, really,
uh, we wouldn't be where we are.
What about you, Bjorn?
>> So, I met Ross online, I guess, um, the
first time. So, we we worked together on
tools, and integrated tools is where I
get involved. So, I joined the community
2010. And Ross was a one of the first
person that that guided me through all
this complexity back then already.
So, we we developed tools together a
lot, um, during this time.
And, um, yeah, I met him the first time
on
on on this conference, um, in back in
2011, as well.
And, yeah, then
I don't know, we we tried to be more
professional, as you said. So, he he
really tried to to motivate us to to
push new boundaries.
So, we we created, uh, in the next years
together the Intergalactic Utility
Commission, so the the IUC, where
we really tried to build up a community
that is now
400 people strong, and we have now
created more than 2,000 tools together.
So, and this is all because Ross, yeah,
started the IUC with us, um,
convinced us how to run these projects
properly, how to build communities.
And and it was a great time. Um, what I
also remember is that when when he was
going back to Australia, and then, um,
eventually in 2015, I think he retired.
Um, that that we really missed him, and
we tried to to urge them to join some
conferences still, because we wanted to
talk to him.
And then he wrote a a very funny email
to us, and said, "Yeah,
he's sorry, but he drifted away into
another galaxy and is now enjoying his
life and swimming a lot in Bondi Beach
and and hiking and enjoying time with
his family."
Um and I remember this email because it
was so so nice and so
yeah.
You're really wonderful to see um
um where this was going and and what he
was building at that time already.
And then
I think we we had less contact with him.
I mean, we had still contact because we
were visiting Australia and of course
we we met him and he invited us at this
place.
But I think where he really get back to
the community is is with the um
um in 2020 with COVID and the death of
James Taylor, when he was really coming
back and trying to help us during this
hard time of the community where
he again tried to establish a proper
community governance model of this
project, which we have now in place in
2026.
And he gets
for whatever reason, but it was so
lovely to see him and engaging again and
and he was really getting hooked again
on on different project that we had back
at the time. So,
he worked on the Vertebrate Genome
Project with us and and again developed
tools, workflows.
Get get really hooked again in this
genome assembly.
And yeah, it was just
it was just great to see this um and and
to work with him.
And the highlight was of course 2023
when when the Galaxy Community
Conference was in Australia and
um of course we invited um
Sarah and um
and Ross again to the conference was in
Brisbane. So,
they were visiting us in Brisbane and we
had a wonderful conference dinner with
Sarah and Ross.
And
yeah, it it was just great. Um
and and he was so kind that he invited
us to Sydney and and then also to
Melbourne. So,
I was able to spend more or less
2 weeks with him um in Australia and and
we were then
a full month in
in his apartment in um in Melbourne and
I don't know. It was just great to to
see him and and this picture is actually
from his house um
where where really we stayed. We we
talked about science again. We talked
about the Galaxy community, the Galaxy
project. But, we also sketched out plans
for the next year. So, what would do we
want to work on? Which visualizations
are missing?
And he kept coding all the day and all
the night and answered questions um
helped us a lot.
So,
yeah, um
it was great. It was a nice time to have
him back um
in the '20s.
Even if he was retired um
yeah.
And yeah, we we miss him again.
>> Yes, he was really
uh
a
parental figure to me and be a very
inspirational person in the sense that
well, in on all senses. But, one thing
is that
he he always were doing something
because sometimes you get into this mood
where you don't want to do anything, you
know, things are not good. But, he was
always the source of optimism. And he
was an example that, you know, if you
are bored, unsure, or depressed, just
start coding on Galaxy and things will
be fine.
And this project will always be his
project
uh and um
well, he uh uh
ini-
initiated this and um this continues
because of him.