On 18-21 September, bioinformatics delegates gathered in Sitges, Spain for the 21st European Conference on Computational Biology (ECCB2022), organised by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) and the Spanish National Bioinformatics Institute (INB/ELIXIR-ES). The conferences provided a forum for disseminating the latest developments in the field and brought together scientists from computer science, molecular biology, mathematics, statistics and related areas.
As the partner organiser of ECCB2022, ELIXIR had a dedicated track, a workshop and an exhibition booth at the conference to showcase activities and services. Niklas Blomberg, Director of ELIXIR, gave an opening talk to introduce ELIXIR and its work on Safeguarding the result of life science research in Europe. The ELIXIR track, spanning four sessions, included presentations covering the activities of ELIXIR Communities. An ELIXIR outreach webinar with Latin America was held to provide an overview of ELIXIR data management and explore opportunities for engagement with Latin American scientists . Additionally, a practical workshop on FAIRification guide for life science data led by FAIRplus partners was offered.
In collaboration with the Spanish ELIXIR Node, ELIXIR hosted a satellite event, the ELIXIR Innovation and SME Forum, on 22 September 2022. The Forum brought together participants from industry, academia and national healthcare initiatives to discuss visionary ideas, bottlenecks and solutions to some of the major challenges in data-driven innovation in healthcare diagnostics.
The first session of the Forum focused on innovation in healthcare with the opening keynote Business development in healthcare innovation given by Esteve Almirall, Associate Professor at Department of Operations, Innovation and Data Sciences at Esade. Following the keynote speech, speakers from Linköping University, SalusCoop and Nina Capital shared their experiences in advancing healthcare diagnostics using data-driven solutions.
The second session of the SME Forum highlighted the importance of standards and regulations in healthcare. Keynote speaker Aneta Tyszkiewicz from EFPIA talked about the challenges and opportunities in shaping future EU health data and the digital ecosystem. After the keynote speech, speakers from Fraunhofer Institute, OpenRegulatory and European Health Data Space shared experiences in innovating in standards and regulations, from certified algorithms to data interoperability in drug discovery.
To explore diverse perspectives on Challenges and opportunities in data driven innovation and healthcare diagnostics, ELIXIR invited panellists from professional societies, innovation networks, venture capital groups and the government sector.
The event ended with flash talks presented by industry and research institutes on their work and experiences in healthcare innovation and a lively networking discussion.
To find out more please view the event programme and slides. For further information on ELIXIR Industry activities, visit our Industry and Innovation webpage and sign up for our Industry newsletter to find out about future ELIXIR events and activities. Please feel free to contact Industry Officer despoina.sousoni [at] elixir-europe.org (Despoina Sousoni )if you have any specific questions.
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