BBMRI-ERIC Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Welcome to this Europe Biobank Week Congress Radio special. It recorded live from the Europe Biobank Week Congress that happened in Vienna, Austria from 14-17 May 2024.

The EBW Congress highlights cutting-edge biobanking innovations and research. Held over four days, it featured expert workshops, keynotes, over 85 oral and 140 poster presentations from across the biobanking community.

This episode features the State-of-the-Art speech delivered by Dr. Bo Franzén, Senior Researcher at Cancer Centre Karolinska of the Karolinska Institutet, during the Quality Management and Pre-Analytics session. 

About Karolinska Institutet

Karolinska Institutet is one of the world’s leading medical universities. Karolinska Institutet accounts for the single largest share of all academic medical research conducted in Sweden and offers the country’s broadest range of education in medicine and health sciences. The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet selects the Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine.

The tilte of Dr. Franzén’s talk is: ‘Minimally invasive fine needle aspiration-based molecular diagnostics in support of precision cancer medicine’ and it was delivered in the Hofburg’s Zeremoniensaal.

Resources

Karolinska Institutet: https://ki.se/en

Minimally invasive fine needle aspiration-based molecular diagnostics in support of precision cancer medicine: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38519839/

Europe Biobank Week 2024 – Day Three: https://www.europebiobankweek.eu/ebw24live/ebw24-live-congress-radio-europe-biobank-week-2024-day-three/

Europe Biobank Week Podcasts: https://www.europebiobankweek.eu/tag/podcast/

Welcome to this Europe Biobank Week Congress Radio special. It was recorded live at the Europe Biobank Week Congress that happened in Vienna, Austria from 14-17 May 2024.

The EBW Congress highlights cutting-edge biobanking innovations and research. Held over four days, it featured expert workshops, keynotes, over 85 oral and 140 poster presentations from across the biobanking community.

Keynotes are an opportunity to hear from leading experts in the field. This episode features the second keynote of the congress, delivered by Dr Gillian Bartlett, Associate Dean for Graduate Research Education, University of Missouri and Co-Director of the SOM Umbrella PhD Program.

About underrepresented populations

The title of Dr. Bartlett’s talk is ‘Biobanking with Underrepresented Populations: The Critical Role of Participant engagement’ and it was delivered to a packed plenary hall. Dr. Bartlett underscores the importance of including still underrepresented populations in medical research with examples from e.g., the All of Us research programme.

Resources

All of Us Research Programme: https://allofus.nih.gov/

Dr. Gillian Bartlett EBW24 news article: https://www.europebiobankweek.eu/ebw24live/ebw24live-dr-gillian-bartlett-university-of-missouri-delivers-keynote-lecture-ii-biobanking-with-underrepresented-populations-the-critical-role-of-participant/

Short interview at EBW24:

https://www.europebiobankweek.eu/ebw24live/ebw24-live-congress-radio-europe-biobank-week-2024-day-three/

Europe Biobank Week Podcasts: www.europebiobankweek.eu/tag/podcast/

Episode 12 introduces you to the canSERV project that focuses on providing over 400 cutting-edge and customised cancer research services. BBMRI-ERIC acts as coordinator for canSERV.

The services and tools are made available to the cancer research community EU wide, enable innovative R&D projects and foster precision medicine for patients’ benefit across Europe.

Experts from the project walk listeners through the Open Call - taking applications until 4 January 2024.

Originally a live webinar, the podcast is presented by canSERV consortium members Saba Abdulghani, Jens Habermann, Enzo Medico, Manuela Pausan and Judit Balogh. 

The Q&A that followed after is being developed into a FAQ. Explore the project, and apply to the Open Call, by visiting the canSERV website.

Organoids are defined as three-dimensional (3D) cell culture systems that can be called “mini-organs” as they mimic some of the key multicellular, anatomical and even functional characteristics of real organs. Organoids are praised as a substitute for animal models in preclinical studies. At the same time, organoid technology raises issues around informed consent or privacy of donors.

This episode of ELSI Dialogues features multidisciplinary experts discussing ethical, regulatory, and scientific aspects of organoid technology. Following a brief introduction in organoid research, a special focus is placed on biobanking from the patient perspective. The panellists discuss trust, trustworthiness, therapeutic misconception, and the need for regulation. They also challenge definitions and the consequences of terminology such as ‘donation’ and ‘mini-organ’.

This is a collaborative effort between the ELSI Services & Research Department and the Stakeholder Forum Patient Pillar of BBMRI-ERIC.

Originally a live webinar, the podcast is presented by Melanie Goisauf with contributions from Zisis Kozlakidis, María Berdasco Menéndez, Signe Mežinska, and Mike Lensink.

The medical community is moving on a path towards more personalised and effective medical treatments and therapies for everyone. In doing so, it is crucial to integrate sex and gender into research as it has the potential to fuel structural and systemic change.

This episode of ELSI Dialogues explores how providing the research community with the resources and information needed to include sex and gender factors into their work will result in more inclusive and impactful results.

This topic is viewed from the perspective of researchers and healthcare professionals through subject areas including AI applications and nephrology.

Originally a live webinar, this podcast is presented by Janet Delgado with contributions from Melanie Goisauf and Mónica Cano Abadía.

“I learned that health care has a share of 6 to 8% in our total energy consumption - equal to the aviation sector. Although as health care researchers, we need to face this reality and act.”

This episode of the BBMRI-ERIC podcast goes behind Amsterdam UMC’s recent win of the International Freezer Challenge to explore biobanking sustainability and carbon literacy.

Jörg Hamann, Head of the Biobank and Management Committee member for The Netherlands' BBMRI National Node, tells Saba Abdulghani, BBMRI’s Head of Biobanking Development, about the significance of the win - Europe's first hospital to achieve the award.

Saba is also joined by Phil Korbel, Co Founder and Director of Advocacy at the Carbon Literacy Project, who will be working with BBMRI to develop a certified Carbon Literacy Toolkit. This initiative will form part of the Green Label that will enable Biobanks to demonstrate recognised sustainability credentials. 

Biobank legislation is not harmonised at the European Union level, and the Member States have taken considerably divergent approaches in how they regulate the field. Whereas some countries do not have specific regulations, others have adopted complex biobank laws.

This episode of ELSI Dialogues aims to present the unique legal framework for biobanking that is currently in place in Belgium. The Belgian Biobank law was first adopted in 2008, entered into force in 2018 and underwent an important reform in 2022. Moreover, the law is complemented by an essential piece of self-regulation, namely the Compendium on biobanks issued by the Federal Agency on Medicine Products and Health. The interplay with relevant data protection rules will also be the focus of our discussion.

Originally a live webinar, this podcast is presented by Ilaria Colussi with contributions from: Janos Meszaros, Teodora Lalova-Spinks, Introduction by Prof. Isabelle Huys 

“This tissue is really representing the patient and that's what I find very interesting about biobanking. You don't need to be there to be in research.”

This is the second of a two-part episode exploring the work of the BBMRI Stakeholder Forum Patient Pillar that brings together patient organisations from across Europe to help shape BBMRI’s biobanking related priorities and policies.

You will hear from Jana Pavlič-Zupanc, Head of Public Affairs at BBMRI-ERIC, who introduces the value of the Stakeholder Forum Patient Pillar and what makes it unique amongst research infrastructures.

We are particularly delighted to introduce the new Chair of the Stakeholder Forum and SEAB member, Eric Vermeulen. Eric is an experienced patient advocate where he combines his background as a nurse with neonatal experience and as a sociologist. Eric has long been involved in BBMRI via the Netherlands National Node and Health-RI. 

You will hear from Eric how his work highlighted the importance of biobanking and the role he feels the Patient Pillar has in providing strategic direction for BBMRI on some key health topics.

You can find out more about the Stakeholder Forum Patient Pillar here.

“Cancer is traumatising, and you want to forget it as soon as possible, but some of us believe our experiences can be useful for others.”

This first of a two-part episode looks at the work of the BBMRI Stakeholder Forum Patient Pillar that brings together patient organisations from across Europe to help shape BBMRI’s biobanking related priorities and policies.

You will meet two members of the Patient Pillar:

• Kathi Apostolidis, Past President and Chair of the Scientific Committee of the European Cancer Patient Coalition - ECPC
• Dr. Stefanie Hourwaart, member of the Scientific advisory board coordinator for the BRCA Network, Germany and Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the German Biobank Node (GBN).

They explore, from their personal experiences, why patient advocacy and the Patient Pillar matters.

Listen to part two to meet Jana Pavlič-Zupanc, Head of Public Affairs at BBMRI-ERIC, and Eric Vermeulen, Chair of the Stakeholder Forum and Patient Pillar. 

You can find out more about the Stakeholder Forum Patient Pillar on the BBMRI-ERIC website: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu/stakeholder-forum/

“I think an ELSI expert is often seen as a patch for projects from the natural sciences. You can ask this ELSI expert anything that has to be solved in a certain way, it has to be a yes or no answer, then it’s done and you never have to talk about it again.” 

This episode of the BBMRI-ERIC podcast joins the ELSI (ethical, legal, societal issues/implications) team from across Europe when they met in person for the first time since the pandemic.

You hear from Michaela Th. Mayrhofer, Melanie Goisauf, Kaya Akyuz, Monica Cano Abadia, Irene Schlünder, Ilaria Colussi, Ulrike Felt, Anna Clareborn, Olga Tzortzatou, Lisa-Maria Ferent, Isabelle Budin Ljøsne and Gillian Martin.

Over two intense days in Vienna, the team shared findings and identified priorities for the next year.

Learn more about ELSI: www.bbmri-eric.eu/elsi

Theme music used with kind permission: 'i need a cup of coffee and some bread for wake up' by In Love With A Ghost.