Description:

PennGen is a genetic testing facility operated through the Section of Medical Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. It is a collection of labs that coordinate as a not-for-profit unit, offering routine testing for a variety of genetic diseases, metabolic screening for inborn errors of metabolism and a number of other diagnostic genetic services.

A team comprised of PennGen staff and the Web Services group from the School of Veterinary Medicine IT Department was tasked with modeling, optimizing and automating PennGen's testing and screening processes within a single stable and supportable online application. The application itself offers PennGen customers and staff interfaces that disentangle complex, rule-based processes and add value, efficiency and customer-friendliness. The project's target duration, from requirements gathering to production launch - met successfully - was 90 days or less.

The presentation will cover the application's development lifecycle, development tools & environment, key features & core functionality, and provide a forum for discussion of the advantages and challenges inherent in utilizing principles of Agile development within Academia.