Note on EU-GCC Science Cooperation Planning Meeting, 2nd Feb, Dubai
Executive Summary
A Roadmap for enhancing inter-regional collaboration in biomedical science in general, and with the research infrastructures IT Future of Medicine (ITFoM) and Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI) in particular, was discussed at a meeting held on the 2nd of February in Dubai. The meeting was hosted by the United Arab Emirate’s National Research Foundation (UAE NRF) (under the directorship of Dr Husam Sultan Al-Ulama). The meeting was chaired by Mr Declan Kirrane (ISC) and attended by Prof Kurt Zatloukal (BBMRI), Prof Hans Lehrach (ITFoM), Mrs Avril Doyle (former MEP), Prof Peter Boyle (iPRI), and Markus Pasterk (iPRI) amongst others (a full list of participants is included in the annex).
Four conclusions arose from the meeting:
p The NRF articulated a firm commitment to the pursuit of high quality science and the health of the UAE population;
p The NRF committed to pursuing a Science Cooperation Agreement with the EU;
p Both the NRF and university representatives (UAE, UAEU) expressed a firm intent to participate in both projects, ITFoM and BBMRI; and
p The NRF committed to hosting a conference symposium in biomedical science in October 2012, with focus on BBMRI and ITFoM.
The Meeting
Mr Declan Kirrane presaged the meeting with an overview of the current global trends in research collaboration. Research partnerships, he said, begin with “an exchange of views”. The guarantor of research funding, he continued, was “awareness of science policy”. As such, this dimension was to form a focal point for the day. By way of elaborating on this premise, Mr Kirrane introduced the first speaker of the day, former MEP Mrs Avril Doyle.
Mrs Avril Doyle began by contextualising the necessity for advances in biomedical science. By the middle of the current decade, she said, the “credit-worthiness of many global industrialised economies will be threatened by growing obligations in the sphere of health expenditure”[1]. Echoing Mr Kirrane, Mrs Doyle spoke of policymakers and researchers moving in tandem to meet this global challenge. Horizon 2020, she said, commits itself to this very objective. A delineated timescale until the adoption of the research programme (“the Irish Presidency, this time next year, will sign off on it”), and information on the process itself, was the subject of Mrs Doyle’s remaining contribution. Mr Kirrane next introduced Prof Kurt Zatloukal, the coordinator of the Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI) project.
Prof Kurt Zatloukal began by maintaining that today’s Global Challenges require “a science-based approach”. As part of facing this challenge, he said, it was necessary to “look outside of Europe for scientific excellence; to form new models of international collaboration”. Such a path is a matter of course for BBMRI. The biobanking project, whose broad aim is to “coordinate the patchwork of European countries”, operates using the “adaptor approach”: one common access point that maintains flexibility for all countries who participate. Built into BBMRI’s infrastructure, is a means of tracking its own effects – this is achieved through gauging the reaction of focus groups and patient organisations. This is a matter of responsibility, Prof Zatloukal explained, for “one must prove the benefits of his / her research for society”. Intrinsically linked to this, he said, is the concept of “sustainability of funding”.
Restrictions on sharing biological samples across international borders, Prof Zatloukal said, by way of concluding, is a key incentive for beginning a “process of international standardisation”. Herein, he continued, lay the opportunity of international collaboration for UAE (and, indeed, the EU): “UAE could be the first-mover, the paradigm, a visible demonstration that the EU’s policies are successful”. Mr Kirrane next introduced Prof Hans Lehrach, the coordinator of IT Future of Medicine (ITFoM).
Prof Hans Lehrach began by underlining the rationale for the ITFoM project: “it would be useful if a body worked like a logical machine – however, biology has been engineered by evolution”. Ergo, to achieve stronger leverage over disease and ailments, medicine needs to replicate patients with computer models. The benefit of this, explained Prof Lehrach, is that you can then test on a virtual self (“in much the same way that, for instance, the car-making industry does when it crashes virtual cars into virtual walls”). Increased spending, however, was not fully the answer. Rather, concentrated spending is needed to improve mortality rates. Tellingly, Prof Lehrach concluded with a choice echoing of Mrs Doyle: “in the future, downgrading will be linked to who will cooperate with ITFoM”. Mr Kirrane next introduced Prof Peter Boyle, the President of the International Prevention Research Institute (iPRI).
Prof Peter Boyle introduced to the room a range of statistics coursing the pathway of future disease. Age structures, he explained, are dramatically altering: persons are living longer at present than at any other time. The global population will reach 9 billion by 2050; 25% of Global GDP will be spent on health in 2020; 1 billion people will die in this century from tobacco cancer; and we will see a massive surge in the incidence of Type II diabetes. Quite aside from these projections, he said, the world needs to start recognising a subtle but profound step change in its attitude to health: “It is not just about sickness, we have to reinforce the notion of good health”. In locating UAE’s place amongst these phenomena, he emphasised that the country (and greater region) must recognise the “extraordinary importance of biobanks”. In locating the place of research in fighting these challenges, Prof Boyle explained that: “we have to do it. It’s not about funding that’s not working, it’s about new ideas”.
Discussion
In the afternoon, Mr Kirrane invited Prof Kurt Zatloukal to open the discussion.
Prof Zatloukal began by speaking at length about converting a “European model into a global model”. This, he explained, entailed building “win-win partnerships”. Again, he stressed the pursuit of responsible science: “it’s not just a science issue; it’s a science and society issue”. At this point Mr Markus Pasterk, Chief Operating Officer of iPRI, joined the conversation and outlined UAE’s opportunity in this ‘movement’: “There is a window for your country, your region. UAE could play a key role in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The countries of the GCC have a similar legal structure and one unifying language. To an extent, it will be easier for the region to speak with one voice, and the UAE could be its central coordinating hub”. Mr Declan Kirrane echoed many of the sentiments expressed above: “I would argue that there has to be a first mover; my view is that the European Parliament will recognise and support this”.
Prof Eyad Abed, Dean of the Faculty of IT at UAEU, at this point expressed UAE’s enthusiasm for collaboration: “There is interest, real interest. We are highly motivated. It’s the right time, the right place, and we’re the right people to do it”. Dr Mohamed Yousuf H Baniyas, the Vice Provost for Health in UAEU, reported a similar interest: “It’s a wonderful opportunity; we have strong expertise in genetics”. Dr. Husam Sultan Al-Ulama, director of the NRF, echoed His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan bin Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Higher Education & Scientific Research, in calling the prospect of collaboration a “wonderful opportunity”.
Mr Declan Kirrane opened the next section of the discussion- the Roadmap for Biomedical Sciences Cooperation: “Our first step is policy engagement. Without this first movement, nothing will happen. I would propose that His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan bin Mabarak Al Nahayan visits the EU”. Prof Hans Lehrach was broadly supportive of this view: “If the UAE’s Science Minister visits the EU, this will have an extremely large impact”.
On a practical footing, Prof Zatloukal encouraged the UAE to begin observing the BBMRI project closely: “Researchers from your country should begin engaging with the project through NRF. Learn about it; look at the different diseases we target and the samples we collect”. This was widely approved as a good first step by the university contingent present (full list in Annex). With ITFoM,Dr Mohamed Yousuf H Baniyas, speaking on behalf of all UAE researchers present, suggested two practical steps they were committed to taking: “we will present our collective expertise in a letter of intent. We will also write to our government to seek additional funding”.
In the end, it was agreed that the following four conclusions had been reached:
p The NRF articulated a firm commitment to the pursuit of high quality science and the health of the UAE population;
p The NRF committed to pursuing a Science Cooperation Agreement with the EU;
p Both the NRF and university representatives (UAE, UAEU) expressed a firm intent to participate in both projects, ITFoM and BBMRI; and
p The NRF committed to hosting a conference symposium in biomedical science in October 2012, with focus on BBMRI and ITFoM.
In conclusion, Prof Peter Boyle remarked positively on all that had been achieved: “The general movement within this country is very encouraging. I sense a strong interest from persons in the UAE to improve the health of the population. Their contributions today ought to be commended”. Ends
Annex: Full List of Participants
Participants from the UAE
- Prof Sehamuddin Galadari,Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies, UAEU
2. Prof Eyad Abed, Dean, Faculty of IT, UAEU
- Boumediene Belkhouche, Faculty of IT, Software Development, UAEU
- Prof Liren Zhang, Faculty of IT, Networking, UAEU
- Dr Nazar Zaki, Faculty of IT, Intelligent Systems, UAEU
- Dr Fatima Al Jasmi, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, UAEU
- Dr Bassam Ali, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pathology, UAEU
- Prof Tahir Rizvi, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, UAEU
- Prof Abdu Adem, Faculty of Medicine, Chair of Department of Pharmacology, UAEU
- Prof Dr Mohamed Yousuf H Baniyas, Vice Provost for Health, Dean Faculty of Medicine, UAEU
Participants from the NRF
1. Dr Husam Sultan Al-Ulama, Director
2. Dr Ahmed Alosi, Research Program Manager
3. Ingrid Liekens, Office Manager
Participants from Europe
1. Mrs Avril Doyle, ISC
2. Prof Hans Lehrach, Coordinator of ITFoM
3. Prof Kurt Zatloukal, Coordinator of BBMRI
4. Peter Boyle, President of iPRI
5. Markus Pasterk, Chief Operating Office of iPRI
ISC Intelligence in Science | Planning Meeting, Dubai 2nd Feb 2012 / 1[1] For more background on this, see the S&P Report on mounting medical care spending, included on the ISC website.