“In a changing world where we have so many challenges, we need to learn to listen to other disciplines and to move forward together…that is important to create impact.”

Welcome to the third, and last, episode related to BBMRI at the 75th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting that took place from 28 June to 3 July in Germany.

You’ll meet Professor Andrea Winkler who shares her expertise in One Health to bring a deeper understanding of the concept. At Lindau, BBMRI-ERIC hosted a panel session to discuss ‘The Role of International Infrastructure in Fostering One Health Through Big Data and AI’.

Professor Winkler took part in the panel that was a prime opportunity to address with young scientists how large infrastructures, like BBMRI with its focus on biobanking and sensitive health data, can play a major role in One Health datasets and research. 

Andrea is a neuroscientist and a specialist neurologist, at TUM University Hospital, and the co(joint)-Director of the Center for Global Health at the School of Medicine and Health, at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany. 

Her special academic interests lie with Global Health, Global Brain Health and One Health and their application to different fields. She also co-chair’s The Lancet One Health Commission.

Read more: 

• BBMRI-ERIC: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu
• The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting: https://www.lindau-nobel.org/current-meeting/
• BBMRI-ERIC at the meeting: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu/news-events/bbmri-eric-hosts-a-panel-on-the-role-of-international-infrastructure-in-fostering-one-health-through-big-data-and-ai-at-75th-lindau-nobel-laureate-meeting/
• Lancet One Health: https://lancetonehealth.org/about/commissioners/andrea-sylvia-winkler/
• Panellist biographies: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu/wp-content/uploads/bbmri_panel_biographies.pdf 

“When you give it your best shot and you think you overcome this barrier and you haven't. You just have to say, well, damn it, I'm going to do it anyway or die trying.”

This episode brings you an interview with Professor Charles Rice, The Rockefeller University, conducted by Dr Carina Vieira, University of Porto. IIt’s not often you get to hear a conversation between a scientist at the start of their career and a scientist who has been awarded a Nobel Prize.

Charles received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work focused on conducting the basic science to discover the hepatitis C virus (HCV), his team’s study of the HCV genome and constructing the first infectious clone of HCV that has led to the development of highly successful treatments of the virus.

Carina is a researcher at the Pharmaceutical Sciences department at the University of Porto. She joined hundreds of promising early-career scientists at the 75th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting that took place from 28 June to 3 July in Germany. BBMRI-ERIC sponsored Carina’s participation in the meeting as part of our commitment to supporting emerging talent and ideas driving future scientific breakthroughs. 

The conversation took place right after a BBMRI-ERIC panel on ‘The Role of International Infrastructure in Fostering One Health Through Big Data and AI’. Both Charles and Carina were panellists. 

Read more: 

• BBMRI-ERIC: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu
• The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting: https://www.lindau-nobel.org/current-meeting/
• BBMRI-ERIC at the meeting: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu/news-events/bbmri-eric-hosts-a-panel-on-the-role-of-international-infrastructure-in-fostering-one-health-through-big-data-and-ai-at-75th-lindau-nobel-laureate-meeting/
• Panellist biographies: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu/wp-content/uploads/bbmri_panel_biographies.pdf 
• Professor Charles Rice profile: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2020/rice/facts/
• Episode 43 with Carina Vieira: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu/news-events/new-podcast-episode-dr-carina-vieira-lindau-nobel-laureate-young-scientist/

Cancer survivorship is rapidly emerging as a central dimension of contemporary oncology, reflecting not only advances in early detection and treatment but also the growing recognition of survivors as key stakeholders in research, policy, and care design.

In alignment with the objectives of the EU Mission on Cancer, which aims to improve the lives of more than 3 million people affected by cancer by 2030, this webinar places cancer survivors at the core of a multidisciplinary dialogue on research governance, ethical responsibility, and patient rights.

Held in proximity to Cancer Survivors Day, which is observed internationally and this year will be celebrated on June 7, 2026, the event will explore how survivorship challenges reshape the research agenda across the entire cancer continuum.

Beyond clinical outcomes, cancer survivors face long-term physical, psychological, social, and economic consequences, including barriers to employment, insurance, and full societal participation. These realities raise critical questions about equity, data use, informed consent, and the fair distribution of innovation.

Bringing together some cancer survivors, expert advocates and a bioethicist, the webinar examines how lived experience can and should inform regulatory frameworks, research priorities, and ethical standards. Particular attention will be paid to the role of survivors in co-creating research, the governance of health data within the evolving European regulatory landscape, and the ethical implications of emerging technologies in oncology.

We believe in a more inclusive, participatory, and ethically grounded model of cancer research, which recognizes survivors not merely as subjects of study, but as agents of change within the European cancer ecosystem.

Speakers:

Virginia Sanchini (Assistant Professor of bioethics, Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, Italy; Visiting Professor, Center for Biomedical Ethics and Law, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium)

Maria Theodoridou (Secretary of the Board of Directors of ELLOK Hellenic Cancer Federation and President of the Cancer Patient Support Association “Living well with Cancer” in Heraklion, Crete)

Richard Stephens (cancer survivor, co-Chair of the UK’s national research group into Living Well with and beyond Cancer)

Merel Hennink (Secretary of the Board of Cancer Patients Europe, expert advocate)

Moderators: Dr. Melanie Goisauf (BBMRI-ERIC), Dr. Zisis Kozlakidis (IARC/WHO)

This webinar is offered by ELSI Services & Research Department at BBMRI-ERIC.

“Being selected for something like this, it’s like being told that what you are doing matters and you belong to this conversation.”

Introducing Dr. Carina Vieira, a researcher at the Pharmaceutical Sciences department at the University of Porto. Carina will join hundreds of promising early-career scientists at the 75th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting taking place from 28 June to 3 July in Germany.

Selected as one of this year's Young Scientists and sponsored by BBMRI-ERIC, she will spend a week exchanging ideas with Nobel Laureates and fellow researchers from around the world. It is an opportunity that recognises the work she is doing as an emerging researcher.

Carina’s research focuses on the development of innovative laboratory tools to study human drug metabolism. Through this work, she hopes to advance more efficient and sustainable methods for developing new medicines.

In today's episode, Carina discusses her work, reflects on her journey so far and discusses the challenges and opportunities facing young researchers today.

Further reading:   

Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting: https://www.lindau-nobel.org/current-meeting/  

These episodes aim to give you insights from the congress that took place in Prague from 19-22 May 2026.

This episode, recorded on 21st May, delves into the International Society of Oncology and Biomarkers (ISOBM) who organised a session called ‘oncology insights. It highlighted the possibilities of cross-disciplinary collaboration across oncology biobanks, pathology, radiology and molecular medicine with a focus on biobank management and biomarker discovery.

The session was co-chaired by Stefan Holdenreider, President of ISOBM and Director of the Institute of Laboratory Medicine at Munich’s TUM University Hospital German Heart Center. 

Stefan discusses the work of ISOBM, collaboration with BBMRI-ERIC and why biomarkers are so important for better cancer outcomes. 

Links:

• ISOBM: https://www.isobm.org
• TUM University Hospital German Heart Center: https://www.deutsches-herzzentrum-muenchen.de/en/
• Europe Biobank Week: https://www.europebiobankweek.eu
• BBMRI-ERIC: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu
• ESBB: https://esbb.org

These episodes aim to give you insights from the congress that took place in Prague from 19-22 May 2026.

This episode, recorded on 21 May, introduces you to Aneta Tyszkiewicz who is Director, Science and Regulatory at the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). They represent the R&D-based pharmaceutical industry in Europe. Aneta leads EFPIA’s policy and advocacy on data, real-world evidence and emerging technologies, including biotechnologies.

Her work focuses on advancing the digital transformation of healthcare in Europe to enable the development of innovative, trusted solutions that deliver tangible benefits for patients.

Aneta’s keynote was titled ‘From scientific excellence to industrial leadership: Strengthening Europe’s attractiveness for research and innovation through the EU Biotech Act’. Listen to this interview to hear why the Act has the potential to unlock Europe’s biotechnology research potential, support new patient therapies and why it is relevant for the biobanking community.

Links:

• EFPIA: https://www.efpia.eu
• Europe Biobank Week: https://www.europebiobankweek.eu
• BBMRI-ERIC: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu
• ESBB: https://esbb.org

This episode, recorded on 21st May, is handled by two speakers from the EP PerMed session. The European Partnership for Personalised Medicine panel was a discussion between stakeholders on the process of returning to people data coming from genetic/genomic studies. This is important for good research practice, people engagement, willingness to share health data and enhancing public trust in science. 

These episodes aim to give you insights from the congress taking place in Prague from 19-22 May 2026.

EBW is jointly organised between BBMRI-ERIC and ESBB and unites over 750 biobankers, researchers, industry specialists and decision makers from across the life sciences.

Links:

• EP PerMed: https://www.eppermed.eu
• Helsinki Biobank: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/infrastructures/biobank-platform/services-and-infrastructures/helsinki-biobank
• Radboud Biobank: https://www.radboudumc.nl/en/research/technology-centers/radboud-biobank
• Europe Biobank Week: https://www.europebiobankweek.eu
• BBMRI-ERIC: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu
• ESBB: https://esbb.org

This Europe Biobank Week Congress mini-series is part of the BBMRI-ERIC Podcast. These episodes aim to give you glimpses into the congress taking place in Prague from 19-22 May 2026.  

EBW is jointly organised between BBMRI-ERIC and ESBB and unites over 750 biobankers, researchers, industry specialists and decision makers from across the life sciences. 

This episode, recorded on 20th May, introduces you to Professor Joacim Rocklöv - a globally recognised expert in climate change, infectious diseases, and data science. He is an Alexander von Humboldt Professor at Heidelberg University with a focus on the modelling of climate-sensitive infectious diseases.

Joacim heads the Heidelberg Planetary Health Hub leading his team to conduct research to advance health surveillance, pandemic preparedness, and data-driven solutions to global health challenges.

He delivered our first keynote and it was titled ‘How is climate change affecting infectious disease dynamics across Europe’. This interview picks up on some of the key issues.

Links:

• Heidelberg Planetary Health Hub: https://hei-planet.com
• Europe Biobank Week: https://www.europebiobankweek.eu
• BBMRI-ERIC: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu
• ESBB: https://esbb.org

This Europe Biobank Week Congress mini-series is part of the BBMRI-ERIC Podcast. These episodes aim to give you glimpses into the congress taking place in Prague from 19-22 May 2026.  

EBW is jointly organised between BBMRI-ERIC and ESBB and unites over 750 biobankers, researchers, industry specialists and decision makers from across the life sciences. This year there are 104 oral and 155 poster presentations covering the latest scientific topics – see the programme at europebiobankweek.eu.  

This episode, recorded on 19 May, explores including patients and the public in biobanking at all stages of collection and research. Let's meet our expert, Eric Vermeulen, who will share those insights.  

Links:

• Stakeholder Forum Patient and Public Pillar: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu/stakeholder-forum/
• Europe Biobank Week: https://www.europebiobankweek.eu
• BBMRI-ERIC: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu
• ESBB: https://esbb.org

“One Health is fundamentally about cooperation.” (Prof. Jabob Zinsstag)

On 24 March 2026, three expert speakers joined us for a new ELSI Dialogues webinar to discuss the role biobanks can play in realising the One Health strategy. Josephine Uldry, Jakob Zinsstag and Adam Strobeyko discussed One Health from philosophical, societal, legal and practical perspectives, highlighting the complexity of the topic.

This webinar opens with a short introduction by Josephine Uldry (Swiss Biobanking), outlining the means for the biobanking community to support a One Health approach in research. Prof. Jakob Zinsstag (Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute), a pioneer of the One Health concept, shares insights from his extensive field experience in implementing this approach in diverse contexts and communities, illustrating how One Health approaches can improve epidemiology and public health policy in practice. Dr Adam Strobeyko (Swiss Biobanking and Global Health Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute) discusses the legal dimensions of pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response the efforts to integrate One Health into international frameworks and practical implications for biobanks.

About One Health

The goal of One Health is to balance and optimise the health of humans, animals, plants and the environment. This view moves away from an anthropocentric approach centred around humans and recognises how tightly these realms and their health are interwoven. This is a crucial step towards a healthier future as it is especially important for tackling emerging zoonotic diseases (infectious diseases transmitted from non-human animals to humans), antimicrobial resistance, food safety risks, environmental pollution and global health security.

Biobanks at the centre of One Health

Biobanking across human and non-human domains can play a key role in operationalising the One Health approach. They can support the collection, storage and sharing of human, animal, plant and environmental samples and data as indispensable resources for surveillance, research and policymaking.

BBMRI-ERIC and One Health

 Our recently published 10-Year Roadmap (2025-2035) and our current Work Programme (2025-2027) are guided by the One Health approach as clear direction for our strategic development and actions. Follow our news on the website and on our socials for more info and future updates on the topic.

🔗 Watch the video recording here.

Engagement and involvement are not possible if you don't have trust. (Sara Rebbling)

Constant dialogue with patients, caregivers and the public is a key guiding principle in biobanking and research. Yet, public and patient involvement, often referred to also as research participant involvement, has not yet become the usual practice in many biobanks.

This episode lets you revisit the first webinar organised by the BBMRI-ERIC Stakeholder Forum recorded on 4 February 2026. Focus is on the importance and benefits of involving patients and public representatives as co-partners in biobanking and research - the core mission of the Stakeholder Forum. They speak with the voices of lived experience and knowledge and can take a crucial role in shaping the biobanking ecosystem.

Four invited speakers - biobankers and patient representatives - discussed best practices on engagement and involvement and also addressed currently existing barriers and challenges. Sara Rebbling (Biobank Sweden) and Ronny Baber shared their experiences from the biobanking side whereas Eric Vermeulen (Chair of the BBMRI-ERIC Stakeholder Forum Patients’ and Citizens’ Pillar) and Albert Counet (President of Ligue Huntington Francophone Belge) addressed the topic from the patient persepective. Together, they explored practical solutions to strengthen participation and co-creation in biobanking.

Enjoy the recording of the webinar also here on Youtube and stay tuned for future webinars by the BBMRI-ERIC Stakeholder Forum. You can always find upcoming events and webinar here on our homepage.

Speakers:

• Eric Vermeulen, Chair of BBMRI-ERIC Stakeholder Forum Patients’ and Citizens’ Pillar and Patient Participation Advisor at PostCovid NL
• Ronny Baber, Head of the Leipzig Medical Biobank
• Sara Rebbling, Member of Biobank Sweden’s citizen engagement team and Department manager at Biobanken norr, Region Västerbotten
• Albert Counet, President of Ligue Huntington Francophone Belge and member of the BBMRI-ERIC Stakeholder Forum Patients’ and Citizens’ Pillar

Host: Manuela Pausan, BBMRI-ERIC

The potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve cancer diagnostics, treatment plans and patient outcomes is immense, particularly when it comes to medical imaging. But what does it mean for AI to be truly trustworthy in practice? What do experts and patients need to develop trust in such potentially revolutionary new tools and how can we incorporate human needs early-on to ensure AI is trustworthy by design?

In the latest ELSI Dialogues session in October 2025, two invited experts, Macej Bobowicz, MD, PhD (Medical University of Gdansk) and Prof. Karim Lekadir (University of Barcelona), shared their thoughts and expertise on this highly current topic. The session was recorded on 28 October 2025 and moderated by Dr. Melanie Goisauf (BBMRI-ERIC).

Read our website article about the webinar for more details and insights.

About the speakers:

Dr. Maciej Bobowicz (Medical University of Gdańsk)

Dr Maciej Bobowicz is an Assistant Professor at the 2nd Department of Radiology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland, and a surgical oncologist specialising in breast cancer diagnostics and treatment. His research focuses on the ethical and clinically responsible use of artificial intelligence in oncology, radiomics, and precision medicine.

He leads or contributes to several EU-funded projects, including EuCanImage, RadioVal, MAYA, Cinderella, TRACE and CAREWAY. He is also part of the AI4HI network, which supports the EUCAIM initiative under Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. Author of over 80 scientific papers, Dr Bobowicz is committed to advancing patient-centred, trustworthy, and equitable AI applications in cancer imaging and care.

Prof. Karim Lekadir (University of Barcelona)

Karim Lekadir is an ICREA Research Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Barcelona. He obtained his PhD from Imperial College London and was a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University. He investigates new data science techniques for trustworthy and ethical artificial intelligence in medicine. He has been PI in 15 EU-funded projects, coordinated 6 Horizon projects, and was awarded an ERC Consolidator grant to investigate new AI techniques tailored to resource-limited settings.

Moderator: Melanie Goisauf (BBMRI-ERIC)

Dr. Melanie Goisauf is an accomplished social scientist with a PhD in Sociology (University of Vienna). She also studied at the Royal Holloway University of London and completed the postgraduate programme “Sociology of Social Practices” at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) Vienna. As senior scientist at BBMRI-ERIC she is involved in several research projects and serves on ethical advisory boards. Dr. Goisauf also leads the Ethics of AI Lab, which focuses on the ethical and social implications of artificial intelligence, and is in charge of the scientific coordination of the Horizon Europe project PERIFORMANCE.

Meet Dr. Ángel Álvarez-Prado, principal investigator at the Translational Cancer Immunogenomics Lab at the Luxembourg Institute of Health. His journey took him from a curious child and self-described “computer nerd” to the head of his own laboratory, dedicated to advancing cancer treatment. Ángel first crossed paths with BBMRI-ERIC in 2023 while working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of Lausanne. He was selected to participate in the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, an annual event where young scientists have the rare opportunity to engage with Nobel Laureates and explore breakthroughs in their fields.

BBMRI-ERIC sponsored Ángel’s participation and the experience helped spark his motivation to become independent and establish his own translational research lab. Later, as his dream of building a lab began to take shape, Ángel started analysing clinical samples and BBMRI-ERIC played a key role by helping him identify suitable collections for his research and by streamlining access to them.

In today’s episode, Angel shares his research, his vision for personalised cancer therapies and offers advice to aspiring scientists considering a career in research. 

Further reading: 

Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting: https://www.lindau-nobel.org/

BBMRI Podcast: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu/bbmri-eric/bbmri-eric-podcast/

“No one has to reinvent the wheel in their work, but we need more visibility for the often invisible work, working with patients and the benefits this has for research.”

(Melanie Goisauf)

In episode 33 of the BBMRI-ERIC podcast we listen in on a recent BBMRI-ERIC ELSI Dialogues session recorded in June 2025, a vivid experts’ discussion covered concepts and practical means to effectively utilise the potential of patients’ unique perspectives. Moderator Melanie Goisauf, ELSI Senior Scientist at BBMRI-ERIC, discussed ways to successful patient engagement with three invited experts: Margareta Haag (Chair of the Swedish Network against Cancer), Stefanie Houwaart (Patient representative in the German BRCA network) and Zisis Kozlakidis (Head of Laboratory Services and Biobanking at IARC/WHO[ES1] ).

Patient engagement is a continuous process of mutual learning

The challenge of actively involving patients in medical research has many names - patient engagement, participation, involvement or participatory research. The unifying goal behind these terms is to give patients a powerful voice and an active role in the process of developing better and more effective treatments and care for everyone.

The discussion revolved around one central question: What does successful patient engagement in research look like? The panellists’ opinions can be summarised as univocal appeal to all involved groups; to keep constantly learning and find solutions together. Researchers need to adapt their work from a patient’s perspective and vice versa - patients benefit from learning the basics of research projects. Stefanie Houwaart (Patient representative in the German BRCA network) emphasised the importance of constant mutual learning:

“It's a process. And we are all learning all the time. So, we three [invited experts] might be in the game for several years already. But we are still learning. And lots of people need to learn. And scientists have to be trained in patient engagement. In Germany there is now more and more training for scientists in patient participation, to learn how to do this and implement this in their very own project.” (Stefanie Houwaart)

Everyone can become a patient, but it needs time and effort to become a patient representative

Margareta Haag (Chair of the Swedish Network against Cancer) presented her experiences and views from the patient and patient representative perspective. Margareta sketched the journey of a patient who first enters the system without knowing how to navigate it but is able to learn along the way to become an educated patient advocate.

“From patient-to-patient advocate, it takes a long time. It's a process. […] It takes time to become a patient that actually can communicate with persons on the other side of the table and then also in research. But you can learn, and you can also teach the professionals that this is the way I work and this is my life.” (Margareta Haag)

From individual efforts to structural changes of the system

Building on individual initiatives, the value of bringing educated patient advocates to the table is getting more broadly recognised as an integral part of medical research. But systematically incorporating this into daily research practice needs effort and engagement from all sides to adapt existing systems. Zisis Kozlakidis, virologist and Head of Laboratory Services and Biobanking at IARC/WHO, introduced this aspect addressing structural shortcomings in the system:

“Part of successful patient engagement is starting to break down some of the silos that have existed for a long time. One of the issues that we have is that a lot of the systems that we see globally, as part of our work, have not been designed with patient engagement in mind at all. […] Even when there are some initiatives to address this, you still see a space that's filled with professional jargon that is not really addressing the needs of the patient. […]. In this sense, we put a lot of emphasis on the education of the patient, the education of the general public as to what is possible.” (Zisis Kozlakidis)

Practical tips patient involvement in research projects

The discussion concluded with practical considerations for researchers to help improve future research by involving patients’ advocacy groups. Stefanie Houwaart stressed how important it is to start developing relationships with patient organisations early on:

“Often, the reality is that funding organisations, a ministry or the European Commission says, okay, now we have the checkpoint “patients’ participation” and then you have to run and you have to do this in a short time. I would really recommend every scientist who wants to do patient participation, to start reaching out to patient organisations early, even before they have a concrete project in mind.” (Stefanie Houwaart)

Melanie Goisauf, Moderator and Senior Scientist at BBMRI-ERIC pointed out the lacking visibility of the progress that is already being made in this field and that researchers and patients can build on:

“No one has to reinvent the wheel in their work, but we need more visibility for the often, I would say, invisible work, working with patients and the benefits this has for research.” (Melanie Goisauf)

More BBMRI-ERIC ELSI recordings and events

Stay informed with our ELSI Dialogues and webinars. Upcoming events are advertised on our events page. Including the upcoming 2025 ELSI Symposium in October addressing Ethical, Legal, and Societal Aspects in View of Recent EU Legislation.

This podcast is part of the canSERV project, which aims to deliver cutting-edge cancer research services to scientists across EU member states, associated countries, and beyond. The project unites a multidisciplinary consortium of 18 European partners specialising in oncology, project management, and sustainability.

The panellists:

Margareta Haag is the Chair of the Swedish Network against Cancer – an umbrella organization for cancer-profiled patient organizations and their families. As a Lymphoma patient since 1994 and Lymphoedema patient since 1995, Margareta acts as a patient representative. Margareta is the Former Executive Director for an international professional body and The Federation of Biomedical Laboratory Science as well as holding various positions including President of the umbrella organization Network against cancer and former President of the Swedish Association of Chronic Oedema.

Dr. rer. nat. Stefanie Houwaart MPH has a Diploma in Biology, a Master of Science in Public Health, and Dr. rer. nat. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Since 2012, Dr. Houwaart is active member of the patient community and patient representative in science and politics at the BRCA network e.V.. She is also Co-Founder and Managing Director of partieval – Advancing Participatory Skills, Process Support and Evaluation in Health.

Dr. Kozlakidis is a virologist, with a PhD in microbiology from Imperial College London. Dr. Kozlakidis is the Head of Laboratory Services and Biobanking at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization (IARC/WHO). Dr. Kozlakidis is responsible for one of the largest and most varied international collections of clinical samples in the world, focusing on gene–environment interactions and disease-based collections.

Dr. Melanie Goisauf is an accomplished social scientist with a PhD in Sociology from the University of Vienna. She also studied at the Royal Holloway University of London and completed the postgraduate program "Sociology of Social Practices" at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) Vienna. Dr. Goisauf currently works as senior scientist at BBMRI-ERIC, where she is involved in several research projects and serves on ethical advisory boards. Dr. Goisauf also leads the Ethics of AI Lab, which focuses on the ethical and social implications of artificial intelligence.

Visit day four of the Europe Biobank Week Congress in this mini-series covering the event - part of the BBMRI-ERIC Podcast. 

During these episodes, you’ll experience the congress as it happens in Bologna, Italy from 13-16 May 2025. You’ll get a flavour of the event from interviews with organisers, speakers and delegates. If you missed day three, find it at Europe-biobank-week-dot-eu.

EBW is a yearly congress jointly organised between BBMRI-ERIC and ESBB. It unites over 800 biobankers, researchers, industry specialists and decision makers for keynotes, workshops, industry talks and parallel sessions over four days.

This final episode, recorded on 16 May, is when congress winds down but the pace is no slower with a vibrant Ethics Café, a set of parallel sessions and the closing ceremony. 

Contributors to the episode, as they appear, are:

• Dr. Jörg Hamann, Amsterdam University Medical Center
• Dr. Gesine Richter, University Kiel
• Prof. Prof. Roland Jahns, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg
• Prof. Ali Kilic, Izmir Biomedicine And Genome Center
• Mariona Arañó Loyo, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu
• Dr. Maria Grazia Cerrito, University of Milano Bicocca
• Dr. Mindaugas Morkunas, Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos
• Elsa Roland, Oslo University Hospital
• Patrick Skowronek, German Cancer Research Center (dkfz)

Links:

• Sant Joan de Déu: https://www.sjdhospitalbarcelona.org/en
• Closing ceremony award recipients: https://www.europebiobankweek.eu/ebw-news/ebw25-live/ebw25-live-closing-ceremony/
• Europe Biobank Week: https://www.europebiobankweek.eu
• BBMRI-ERIC: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu
• ESBB: https://esbb.org

Visit day three of the Europe Biobank Week Congress in this mini-series covering the event - part of the BBMRI-ERIC Podcast. 

Europe Biobank Week Congress is happening in Bologna, Italy from 13-16 May 2025. You’ll hear a flavour of the event through interviews with organisers, speakers and delegates. If you missed day one, find it at the Europe Biobank Week website.

EBW is the most important event of the year for the global biobanking community. A yearly congress, jointly organised between BBMRI-ERIC and ESBB, it unites over 800 biobankers, researchers, industry specialists and decision makers from across the life sciences to discuss the latest innovative research and industry changes. It features keynotes, parallel sessions and workshops and is held over four days.

This episode, recorded on 15 May, is when congress is in full swing.

Contributors to the episode, as they appear, are:

• Istahil Mohammed Ibrahim, Statens Serum Institut
• Adrie Kromhout, Amsterdam University Medical Center
• Prof. Professor Mait Metspalu, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu
• Donal Melanaphy, Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Tania Porqueddu, Università Di Sassari
• Dr. Gianni D’Errico, Toscana Life Sciences 
• Dr. Piotr Mrówka, Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine
• Dr. Mignon van Gent, Amsterdam University Medical Centre

Links:

• Estonian Biobank: https://genomics.ut.ee/en/content/estonian-biobank
• EP PerMed: https://www.eppermed.eu/
• Europe Biobank Week: https://www.europebiobankweek.eu
• BBMRI-ERIC: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu
• ESBB: https://esbb.org

Visit day two of the Europe Biobank Week Congress in this mini-series covering the event - part of the BBMRI-ERIC Podcast. 

Europe Biobank Week Congress is happening in Bologna, Italy from 13-16 May 2025. You’ll hear a flavour of the event through interviews with organisers, speakers and delegates. If you missed day one, find it at the Europe Biobank Week website.

EBW is the most important event of the year for the global biobanking community. A yearly congress, jointly organised between BBMRI-ERIC and ESBB, it unites over 800 biobankers, researchers, industry specialists and decision makers from across the life sciences to discuss the latest innovative research and industry changes. It features keynotes, parallel sessions and workshops and is held over four days.

This episode, recorded on 14 May, is when congress kicked off the scientific programme and covers the highlights.

Contributors to the episode, as they appear, are:

• Prof. Antonio Zoccoli, President of the ICSC
• Prof. Walter Ricciardi, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome
• Dr. Nicola Miller, School of Medicine, University of Galway
• Zohaib Hassan, German Biobank Node
• Prof. Elke Smits, Antwerp University Hospital and ESBB Ambassador
• Dr. Ricard Martinez, University of Valencia
• Dipl.-Ing. Roland Leiminger, ESBB
• Prof. Jens K Habermann, BBMRI-ERIC

Links:

• Europe Biobank Week: https://www.europebiobankweek.eu
• BBMRI-ERIC: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu
• ESBB: https://esbb.org
• ICSC: https://www.supercomputing-icsc.it/en/

Visit day one of the Europe Biobank Week Congress in this mini-series covering the event - part of the BBMRI-ERIC Podcast. 

Europe Biobank Week Congress is happening in Bologna, Italy from 13-16 May 2025. You’ll hear a flavour of the event through interviews with organisers, speakers and delegates. 

EBW is the most important event of the year for the global biobanking community. A yearly congress, jointly organised between BBMRI-ERIC and ESBB, it unites over 700 biobankers, researchers, industry specialists and decision makers from across the life sciences to discuss the latest innovative research and industry changes. It features keynotes, parallel sessions and workshops and is held over four days.

This episode takes you to the first day - 13 May - which hosts several workshops run by experts within their field. Learn what makes the workshops unique and how they’re valued as education opportunities by delegates.

Contributors to the episode, as they appear, are:

• Prof. Antonino Rotolo, Università di Bologna
• Dr. Nabila Choudhry - Research Analyst-Ethicist at WCM-Q
• Hugas Jasinskas, IT Specialist from The Biobank of Lithuanian Population and Rare Disorders
• Prof. Marialuisa Lavitrano, National Node Director for BBMRI Italy
• Dr. Sissy Kolyva, Hellenic Pasteur Institute Athens
• Stella Antoniou, Quality Manager at. BMRI-ERIC
• Dr. Marta Sobalska-Kwapis, Centre for Digital Biology and Biomedical Science - Biobank Lodz

Links:

• Europe Biobank Week: https://www.europebiobankweek.eu
• BBMRI-ERIC: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu
• ESBB: https://esbb.org

“The technology is there. What is not there immediately, is how to use the technology properly.”

(Prof. Marco Montali)

In episode 28 of the BBMRI-ERIC podcast, Ilaria Colussi, Data Protection Officer at BBMRI-ERIC, and two guest experts discuss legal and technical aspects of using AI tools for biobanking. How can AI help modern biobanking? How can biobanks with their vast data and sample collections support the development of AI tools for e.g., medical diagnostics? And what are the legal frameworks that regulate the use and development of this rather young technology with its huge impact on humankind?

The EU AI act as pioneering attempt to legislate AI applications

New applications for AI tools/algorithms are currently blooming like spring flowers and it can be overwhelming to decide which of them can be integrated in one’s daily routine safely and responsibly. This holds true for personal use but especially for biobanking where large collections of sensitive biological samples and data are stored and made accessible for research.

Prof. Nikolaus Forgó (University of Vienna) is Professor for IT and IP law and a leading advisor e.g., as an expert member of the Austrian Data Protection Council and Member of the AI Advisory Board. In the first part of this episode, Prof. Forgó summarises the current state of the developing AI legislation in Europe:

“The pieces of legislation coming, in principle apply to everything. Be it Meta, be it a biobank, be it a public government institution. And two pieces of this legislation are of specific relevance for biobanks: The EU AI act and the EHDS (European Health Data Space) Act.”

(Prof. Nikolaus Forgó)

The EU AI act is globally the pioneering first legislation for a responsible use of AI. The challenge is to navigate how we can leverage the potential of AI applications in a responsible manner while securing privacy and safety rights of citizens and patients. Prof. Forgó describes the approach of the EU legislation to broadly assess the risks of AI applications:

“The AI act is the attempt of the European legislator to control the risks coming with AI. So, it's mainly about assessment of risks and then introducing specific obligations for specific risk categories.”

(Prof. Nikolaus Forgó)

A technical view on implementing AI applications into biobanking

The second guest expert speaker, Prof. Marco Montali (Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy), is an expert in Computer Engineering and was awarded by the Italian Association of Artificial Intelligence the best under 35 Italian researcher in Artificial Intelligence. In the second part of this episode, Prof. Montali discusses technical aspects and consideration that are relevant when AI tools are introduced into biobanking. Prof. Montali points out the current challenges of AI integration:

“The technology is there. What is not there immediately, is how to use the technology properly.”

(Prof. Marco Montali)

Biobanks are in a position where they can hugely benefit from algorithms that are able to process and analyse large amounts of data. Vice versa, biobanks can provide such large amounts of high-quality data including medical images, that are essential to develop and train these specialised AI tools in the first place. Prof. Marco Montali describes this reciprocal benefit for AI research and biobanking with an example:

“It's not only biobanking helping AI, but AI helping biobanking, even before thinking about which problem we want to solve with AI. […] A lot of AI research is being focused on being able to integrate, to reconcile, to prepare, to clean the data. Obviously, this is connected to data science as a whole for then fuelling other AI algorithms.”

(Prof. Marco Montali)

When humans and AI work together

A critical aspect that touches all points of this discussion is the question how we can optimally utilise human-AI interactions for the best possible outcome. Where is it essential to include human oversight? How can medical experts integrate AI support in their work to improve and accelerate diagnosis? We need to understand and decide which tasks can be performed faster and maybe more reliably by an AI algorithm and which tasks strongly rely on the unique expertise of a trained medical expert. This is a challenge but also a huge opportunity for biobanking and biobank-related medical research and diagnostics.

Further reading:

• The EU AI act
• The European Health Data Space (EHDS)

“It’s not a secret to anybody that the biodiversity is decreasing on all continents, and this implies a lot of important issues for the day-to-day life of human beings. For a sustainable use of the biodiversity and benefit sharing, the Nagoya protocol was adopted.”

(Melania Muñoz Garcia)

Sharing is caring. This also holds true for biological samples and data as resources for research. Episode 27 of the BBMRI-ERIC podcast explores how the Nagoya Protocol - an international agreement regulating collection, storage and sharing of non-human genetic resources - helps biobankers and researchers to distribute and utilise these resources responsibly, especially in times of globally decreasing biodiversity.

A key aspect of the agreement is the goal to share any benefits that arise from utilisation of these resources in a fair and equitable way between the country/institution that stores and provides the resources and those who use it. This promotes responsible use and fosters collaborations.

“Compliance with the Nagoya Protocol is not just a legal requirement, it's a powerful tool for promoting fair and equitable sharing of genetic resources.”

(Christian de Guttry).

In this recording of our latest ELSI Dialogues session in February 2025, three invited expert speakers joined host Ilaria Colussi, BBMRI-ERIC’s Data Protection Specialist, to share their knowledge and practical experience with the Nagoya protocol. Melania Muñoz Garcia (Leibniz Institute, DSMZ), Josephine Uldry (Swiss Biobanking Platform) and Christian de Guttry (Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics) describe the fundamental basics of the Nagoya Protocol and explore practical examples how the Nagoya protocol is applied in different countries and institutions.

Changes in daily practise have to go hand in hand with a change of the perception among researchers that compliance to regulations is a bureaucratic burden. In contrast, following the Nagoya Protocol’s guidelines supports ethical and reproducible science with genetic resources, with biobanks as crucial players.

You can also watch this and previous ELSI Dialogues sessions as webinar video recordings on our Youtube channel.

Further reading:

• The Nagoya protocol: https://www.cbd.int/abs/default.shtml
• The Nagoya protocol at the Leibniz Institute DMSZ website: https://www.dsmz.de/collection/nagoya-protocol
• Sharing nature’s genetic resources by the EC: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/nature-and-biodiversity/sharing-natures-genetic-resources_en
• ELSI Dialogues on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZA1rVT75to
• ELSI services: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu/elsi/