UAE could be first mover in European Biomedical Sciences Collaboration

Dubai, 2 February 2012–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, wasdiscussed at a meeting heldon the 2nd of February in Dubai. The meeting was hosted by the United Arab Emirate’s National Research Foundation (UAE NRF) and under the directorship of Dr Husam Sultan Al-Ulama. The meeting was chaired by 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.

The meeting was a direct follow-up to the European Parliament hearing held on the 22nd November 2011, chaired by Dr Angelika Niebler,MEP, which sought theoptimal format for scientific dialogue between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the EU.

Four conclusions arose from the meeting:

1)The NRF articulated a firm commitment to the pursuit of high quality science and the health of the UAE population;

2)The NRF committed to pursuing a Science Cooperation Agreement with the EU;

3)Both the NRF and university representatives (UAE, UAEU) expressed a firm intent to participate in both projects,ITFoMandBBMRI; and

4)The NRF committed to hosting a conference symposium in biomedical science in October 2012, with focus on BBMRI and ITFoM.

Amongst general all-round praise for the manner of the meeting, Dr Eyed Abed, Dean Faculty IT UAEU, underlined UAE’s enthusiasm and credentials for collaboration: “There is interest, real interest. We are highly motivated. It’s the right time, right place, and we’re the right people to do it. Let’s make something tangible”. Dr Husam Sultan Al-Ulama(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”. Prof Kurt Zatloukal, Medical University of Graz and Coordinator of BBMRI, clinched the opportunity of future collaboration for both sides in one sentence: “UAE could be the first-mover, the paradigm, a visible demonstration that the EU’s policies are successful”.

Notes to Editors

National Research Foundation (NRF), UAE, was established in March 2008 as a Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research initiative. It aids in the promotion of research activity, amongst individual or teams of researchers, in private and public universities, colleges, centres, institutes and companies in the UAE. NRF has been established to provide research leadership in the country and to provide funding support on a competitive basis. It supports internationally peer-reviewed research projects which contribute social and economic benefits to UAE, and enhance the development process in the country.

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Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI) is a pan-European and broadly accessible network of existing andnew biobanks and biomolecular resources. The infrastructure will include samples from patients and healthy persons (with links to epidemiological and health care information), molecular genomic resources and biocomputational tools to optimally exploit this resource for global biomedical research. This will increase scientific excellence and efficacy of European research in the biomedical sciences and discovery, and expand and secure competitiveness of European research and industry in a global context.

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IT Future of Medicine (ITFoM) is a collaborative stream of ICT, the life sciences, public health and medicine and is one of six selected pilot actions in the EU’s Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship Scheme. ITFoM is preparing for the amalgamation of 5areas: (i) medicine, from sample and diagnosis provision to clinical practice and patient consent; (ii) analytical techniques, covering functional genomics and imaging technology analyses on a routine basis; (iii) IT developments required to address the computational challenges; (iv) integration, developing interfaces, modeling and machine learning tools required to integrate the data generated through the different analysis streams, and to inform relevant health providers; (v) a coordination work package will address the administrative, educational, funding and translational components of the work. Through this process, ITFoM will lead the way towards truly personalised health care.

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