In October 2022, the WCB’s Operations Director Dr Alison Parry-Jones took part in a panel discussion at the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) in Qatar. In her role as President Elect for ISBER*, she was invited, along with the President of ESBB, a representative of BBMRI-ERIC and the Head of Laboratory Services and Biobank Group at the International Agency for Research on Cancer at the World Health Organization, to join the Director of the Qatar Biobank to discuss the key role of biobanks.  The panel discussion, ‘Fulfilling the Promise of Precision Medicine: The Essential Role of Biobanks’ provided a lively conversation around how biobanks fitted into precision medicine, what the impact is of having well curated, professionally run bioresources as well as an update on the activity of the Qatar biobank from its Director, Professor Nahla Afifi.

Across the three days of events, over 1400 in person delegates (and many more virtual attendees) heard talks and panel discussions from 200 speakers from around the world, including Sir Mo Farah speaking about sport and impact on mental health.

After the panel discussion, Professor Afifi generously gave the panel members a tour around the Qatar Biobank.

 

About WISH

Since its inception in 2012, WISH has brought together thousands of the world’s healthcare pioneers to its global gathering, both physical and in-person.

The mission of WISH is to forge connections and help build action-oriented communities that work together to address the most pressing global health challenges.  The objective is to gather the world’s leading experts and decision makers, and work with them to create and disseminate world-class, evidence-based content. They promote active learning and support within and between communities, to contribute to the vision and mission of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development and Qatar National Vision 2030. WISH explores opportunities and collaborate across the diverse and dynamic healthcare sectors to influence healthcare policy globally.

 

*International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories www.isber.org