Day 1 :
Keynote Forum
Temple F. Smith
Boston University, USA
Keynote: How far back can biology’s Big Data take us? “Can we model biology’s beginnings?â€
Time : 10:30-10:35
Biography:
Dr. Temple Smith graduated with a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics from the University of Colorado in 1969. Then did a National Institutes of Health (USA) postdoctoral fellowship under the direction of the mathematician, Stanislaw Ulam, and the molecular biologist, John Sadler. There he carried out a detailed analysis of the E. coli Lac operator mutations. In 1979, Dr. Smith was one of the founders of GenBank, initially at Los Alamos National Laboratory. There, he with Walter Goad developed a statistical mechanical model of the Lac operon system similar to those now being developed in system biology. Dr. Smith is a co-developer with Michael Waterman of the Smith-Waterman sequence alignment algorithm, underlying most DNA and protein sequence comparison methods today.
Dr. Smith spent a sabbatical year working with Harold Morowitz at Yale resulting in a seminal paper on the relationship between biology, physics and history. In 1988 he moved to the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, there organizing a computational biology research center and initiating a series of international meetings, “Genes and Machines” on the application of computers in modern biology. In 1991 the center moved to Boston University, becoming director of the BioMolecular Engineering Research Center in the College of Engineering. Working there with Richard Lathrop and others, he helped develop new protein threading and Discrete State software. Dr. Smith has continued his research in many areas, including the time calibration of HIV viral evolution, and with Harvard’s Eva Neer the modeling of the WD-repeat protein family. As a member of Fly Base, he helped carry out a full-genome comparative evolutionary analysis of the Drosophila clade. More recently he has investigated the origin of the eukaryotic cell and the evolutionary of the cellular translation system.
Dr. Smith was inducted into AIMBE “for extraordinary contributions in defining and advancing the field of bioinformatics, with emphasis on novel engineering methods to predict protein structure and function” and made a follow of the ISCB. He has over 200 reviewed publications and has been the primary advisor for over 20 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. As of 2010 Dr. Smith became Professor Emeritus in BioMedical Engineering at Boston University.
Dr. Smith is an avid skier, ice climber, sailor, hockey coach and family man with four sons. He is also the co-founder of a small gene engineering company, Modular Genetics, Inc. in Woburn, Massachusetts.
Abstract:
Modern Biology now claims to be a “big data” science. Unfortunately the term Big Data has a lot of associated hype these days. Clearly the science at the Large Hardon Collider at CERN involves big data, as does the astronomy, with Hubble’s deep field images. It is confluence of ever expanding genomic, structural and image data that supports such claims for modern biosciences. In the medical area there is a wealth of potential data in medical records and tissue samples, all have the potential for Big Data, but with many unresolved challenges. What lessons can be learned from our current attempts to exploit these data to provide insight into the fundamental questions of the earliest evolutionary events, we will review these issue.
There have been, successfully reconstructs of the Phylogeny of major animal taxonomic divisions. For example, the phylogeny of the entire class Aves or Birds (8), has just recently been published, pushing the origins of birds back. This success has rested on two things: The fact that modern biology is a “big data” science with tens of thousands of full genome DNA sequences, and on the concept that what is widely common has been conserved over long time periods. Yet even more important is our ability to extract information from those data, allowing for errors, legacy annotation, and missing data.
Keynote Forum
Ana Colette Mauricio
University of Porto, Portugal
Keynote: Mesenchymal stem cells from the Wharton’s jelly of the umbilical cord (UC-MSCs) and from dental pulp (DPSCs) used for neuro-muscular regeneration – A longitudinal study from in vitro characterization to animal experimentation.
Time : 10:35-11:00
Biography:
Ana Colette Mauricio has a degree on Veterinary Medicine since 1995, a PhD on Veterinary Sciences since 1999 from Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FMV) - Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (UTL) and Habilitation in Veterinary Sciences (ICBAS-UP) since 2011. At the present, she is an Associated Professor with Ana Colette Mauricio has a degree on Veterinary Medicine since 1995, a PhD on Veterinary Sciences since 1999 from Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FMV) - Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (UTL) and Habilitation in Veterinary Sciences (ICBAS-UP) since 2011. At the present, she is an Associated Professor with Habilitation, from the Veterinary Clinics of ICBAS – UP. She also belongs to the Scientific Council of ICBAS-UP and to the Ethic Comission for Health Sciences from University of Porto (UP). She belongs to the Scientific Committee of the Veterinary Sciences Doctoral Program at ICBAS–UP. She is the Scientific Coordinator of Regenerative Medicine and Experimental Surgery sub-unit from CECA-ICETA fro UP. She is one of the founding shareholders of Biosckin, Molecular and Cell Therapies, S.A since 2007 for development of new cell therapies and medical devices. For the past 12 years she coordinates a multidisciplinary research group of Experimental Surgery and Regenerative Medicine, working with several biomaterials and cellular therapies. She coordinates a multidisciplinary team, including Veterinaries, Engineers, Medical Doctors that through Experimental Surgery have a crucial role in the development of biomaterials and cellular therapies, allowing a close share of knowledge between biomaterials design, development of cellular systems, and surgeons needs when related to specific clinical cases.
Abstract:
Recent advances in Tissue Engineering considering the peripheral nerve system have greatly promoted the generation of nerve conduits, which may be implanted filled with growth factors and/or cellular systems. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) comprise a rare population of multipotent progenitors with a great therapeutic potential, support hematopoiesis and enhance the engraftment after co-transplantation. Currently, bone marrow (BM) represents the main source of MSCs. However the number of BM-MSCs significantly decreases with age and the HLA compatible donors are very difficult to find. The MSCs obtained from the umbilical cord tissue (UCT) are a promising alternative: i) the number of cells per volume is higher, ii) because of the low expression of HLA-ABC antigens and the absence of HLA-DR expression, a complete or high HLA profile match for allogenic use is not necessary, which permits to greatly enlarge the number of available donors, and the use in xenografts iii) are easier to obtain, cryopreserve, and the collection is ethically approved by national and international laws, iv) the number of high quality samples cryopreserved is increasing in public and private cord blood banks in Portugal and Europe. More recently, also the MSCs isolated from the dental pulp have been intensively studied. Our multidisciplinary team has a crucial role in the development of new biomaterials, cells therapies, and in pre-clinical trials considering appropriate animal models and welfare where the main objective of the Regenerative Medicine research sub-unit from CECA-ICETA is to evaluate the therapeutic effect (by morphological and functional analysis) of biomaterial nerve conduits used as a scaffolds for UC MSCs and DPSCs, on neuro-muscular regeneration after axonotmesis and neurotmesis injuries. It is a transversal and integrated study considering the development and characterization of new biomaterials, the isolation and expansion of MSCs under GMP conditions and pre-clinical studies [1-5]. The in vivo trials include 2 animal models, the rat for initial validation of the scaffold and the ovine which allows studying critical defects. The therapeutic effect of UC-MSCs and DPSCs does not simply reside on their capacity to replace the original cells of damaged tissues, but also by secreting growth factors and cytokines that modify the microenvironment and induce activity of endogenous progenitor cells and by modulation of the inflammatory process. Due to this fact, the UC-MSCs and DPSCs secretome and metabolic profile and the therapeutic effect of conditioned medium (CM) has been studied in detail [1-5]. The team has a very strong experience working with extra-fetal stem cells and 2 elements (ACM, JDS) are founders shareholders of a private cord blood bank (www.criovida.pt; www.biosckin.com) approved by Direcção Geral de Saúde (DGS). Also several international publications in the field and close collaborations with some of the strongest groups working in Regenerative Medicine are the outputs for the past 10 years [1-5]. The biodegradable biomaterials filled with both MSCs or CM and different vehicles are being nowadays tested in the rat sciatic nerve across 10 mm-gap (neurotmesis) or in 3 mm axonotmesis lesion for an initial scaffold in vivo validation. Afterwards, the same scaffold will be tested in critical nerve injuries, using the peroneal nerve in sheep, which reproduces more closely, the neurosurgery clinical cases [1-5]. The regenerated nerves are usually processed for light, confocal and electronic microscope analysis, imunohistochemistry, and stereological studies after 20 and 12 weeks, for neurotmesis and axonotmesis injuries, respectively. The functional recovery is always assessed serially using video recording of the gait for biomechanical analysis, by measuring extensor postural thrust (EPT), sciatic functional index (SFI) and static sciatic functional index (SSI), and the withdrawal reflex latency (WRL) [1-5]. Also, the muscular regeneration after neurogenic atrophy has been evaluated by morphometric analysis and functional assessment. The axonotmesis and neurotmesis injury models are also widely used in the evaluation of muscle regeneration via the denervation/reinnervation process, since this phenomena is caused by blockage of the nerve impulse, with consequent loss of stimulation at the level of the neuromuscular junction. The rapid restoration of the motor function unit is crucial for successful reversal of muscular atrophy and this factor has been intensively studied by our research group [1-5]. Our research projects allow to adequate GMP isolation, and expansion protocols of UC MSCs and DPSCs to clinical use, through in vitro studies including cytocompatibility, multi-lineage differentiation capacity, imunocytochemistry, flow cytometry, secretome, metabolic profile, and RT-PCR. The in vivo trials allow evaluation of neuro-muscular functional and morphologic recovery, including the ovine model to study critical defects. Also, the importance of a longitudinal and complete study concerning tissue engineering of the peripheral nerve, which includes a multidisciplinary team able to develop biomaterials, to prepare cellular cultures for cell therapies, and to elaborate in vitro analysis and pre-clinical trials concerning animal welfare and the most appropriate animal model is enhanced by the Regenerative Medicine sub-unit from CECA.
- Workshop
Chair
Ana Colette Mauricio
University of Porto, Portugal
Session Introduction
Ana Colette Mauricio
University of Porto, Portugal
Title: MSCs conditioned media and umbilical cord blood plasma metabolomics and composition: importance for MSCs scale-up expansion for clinical applications
Time : 11:20-12:05
Biography:
Ana Colette Mauricio has a degree on Veterinary Medicine since 1995, a PhD on Veterinary Sciences since 1999 from Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FMV) - Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (UTL) and Habilitation in Veterinary Sciences (ICBAS-UP) since 2011. At the present, she is an Associated Professor with Habilitation, from the Veterinary Clinics of ICBAS – UP. She also belongs to the Scientific Council of ICBAS-UP and to the Ethic Comission for Health Sciences from University of Porto (UP). She belongs to the Scientific Committee of the Veterinary Sciences Doctoral Program at ICBAS–UP. She is the Scientific Coordinator of Regenerative Medicine and Experimental Surgery sub-unit from CECA-ICETA fro UP. She is one of the founding shareholders of Biosckin, Molecular and Cell Therapies, S.A since 2007 for development of new cell therapies and medical devices. For the past 12 years she coordinates a multidisciplinary research group of Experimental Surgery and Regenerative Medicine, working with several biomaterials and cellular therapies. She coordinates a multidisciplinary team, including Veterinaries, Engineers, Medical Doctors that through Experimental Surgery have a crucial role in the development of biomaterials and cellular therapies, allowing a close share of knowledge between biomaterials design, development of cellular systems, and surgeons needs when related to specific clinical cases. This group has several recent relevant publications in the research areas of nerve, bone, musculoskeletal and vascular tissue regeneration. She is the supervisor of several PhD, Post-Doctoral and Master students, she is the co-author of a large number of scientific articles (Maurício AC) and scientific book chapters. She was the principal researcher of several national and international scientific projects.
Abstract:
Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) from umbilical cord blood (UCB) and umbilical cord matrix are tested clinically for a variety of pathologies but in vitro expansion is essential to achieve appropriate cell numbers for clinical use and most applications still need culture media containing fetal bovine serum (FBS). Until today, there is no reliable serum-free medium and the animal sera have several disadvantages. Human umbilical cord blood plasma (hUCBP) can be used as a supplement for hMSCs from the umbilical cord (UC) Wharton’s jelly culture, since UCB is rich in soluble growth factors and due to worldwide increase in the number of cryopreserved UCB units in public and private banks. On the other hand, the culture media enriched in growth factors produced by these hMSCs in expansion (Conditioned medium - CM) can be an alternative to hMSCs application. The CM of the hMSCs from the UC Wharton’s jelly might be a better therapeutic option compared to cell transplantation, as it can benefit from the local tissue response to the secreted molecules without the difficulties and complications associated to the engraftment of the allo- or xeno-transplanted cells. These facts drive us to know the detailed composition of the hUCBP and CM, by 1H-NMR and Multiplexing LASER Bead Technology. hUCBP is an adequate alternative for the FBS and the CM and hUCBP are important sources of growth factors, which can be used in MSCs-based therapies. Some of the major proliferative, chemotactic and immunomodulatory soluble factors (TGF-β, G-CSF, GM-CSF, MCP-1, IL-6, IL-8) were detected in high concentrations in CM and even higher in hUCBP. The results from 1H-NMR spectroscopic analysis of CM endorsed a better understanding of hMSCs metabolism during in vitro culture, and the relative composition of several metabolites present in CM and hUCBP was obtained. The data reinforces the potential use of hUCBP and CM in tissue regeneration and focus the possible use of hUCBP as a substitute for the FBS used in hMSCs cell culture and expansion.
- Track 2: Bio-repository and Biospecimen
Track 7: Role of Biobank in Genomics and Personalized Medicine
Track 9: Overcoming the Challenges – Next Generation Biobanking
Track 11: Social, Political and Ethical Aspects in Biobanking
Chair
William Ritchie
Monash Biomed, UK
Session Introduction
Mayumi Kusunose
University of Tokyo, Japan
Title: Ethical, legal, and social issues pertaining to induced pluripotent stem cell bio-banking in paediatrics in Japan
Time : 12:05-12:30
Biography:
Mayumi Kusunose is a Project Researcher at the Department of Public Policy, the Institute of Medical Science in University of Tokyo, Japan. She has been working on research dealing with the ethical, legal, and social implications relevant to the realization of regenerative medicine. She earned a Master's Degree in Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania, USA, in 2010 and a Master's Degree in Humanities and Social Sciences from Kochi University, Japan in 2002. She also earned Bioethics Certificates in Clinical Ethics and Research Ethics from Union Graduate College and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA.
Abstract:
Regenerative medicinal research utilizing induced stem cells (iPSCs) is one of the cutting-edge research areas in Japan. It is an element of Japan’s New Growth Strategy and a 110-billion-Yen budget created in 2013 to strengthen and accelerate stem cell research over a ten-year period. With the Japanese government’s support, nationwide stem cell research projects have been conducting and the first human clinical trial using iPSC conducted on an age-related macular degeneration patient in 2014. Under these circumstances, iPSC banking projects have been undertaken. Notably, the iPSC stock project collects HLA homogeneous cells to create clinically applicable iPSC lines. iPSC banking is a relatively new system and now faces new ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) and its governance. ELSI on umbilical cord blood banking for clinical use and ELSI on DNA banking for research use been actively discussed. However, ELSI on iPSC banking is not been thoroughly examined yet in Japan. Without saying anything that there has not been much research on ELSI pertaining to iPSC banking targeting children and minors, such as returning results to minors and parents. Therefore, our poster examines the ELSI on iPSC banking in paediatrics based on our experience with the ethical supports in iPSC banking for basic research. In addition, we will introduce and examine the new guidelines outlined in ‘Ethical Guidelines for Human Medical Research’ that will be enacted in April 2015, as a reference as it elaborates on clinical research pertaining to minors and the relevant assent issues.
Daniel LICARI
STEM ALPHA, France
Title: Animal component free medium for freezing and thawing cells
Time : 12:30-13:10
Biography:
Daniel LICARI has completed his MSc in cellular biology from UFR Paris XIII. He is the director of STEM ALPHA, a innovative biotech company located in France. STEM ALPHA is specialized in concepting, manufacturing, and comercializing media for tissues and cells preservation.STEM ALPHA has several publications showing the benefits of its products which are animal components free.
Abstract:
Cryo.3 is an animal component free medium for freezing and thawing cells, designed and produced by STEM ALPHA, a French company. Cryo.3 has been designed for improving preservation in low temperature (-80°C to -196°C). Cryo.3 provides a safe protective environment for cells and tissues during the freezing, storage, and thawing processes.Cryo.3 is animal component free and Dextran free. It provides a high stability during storage id est 24 months in frozen storage (-30°C / -15°C) or 6 months in the fridge (+2°C / +8°C). Cryo.3 needs only 10% of DMSO for the freezing process. Cryo.3 is produced in compliance with the GMP-annexe I.In addition, STEM ALPHA quality management system is compliant with ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 13485:2003.
Biography:
Maria Kahn is a Senior Research Associate in Product Development at PATH. She specializes in developing technologies for the preservation of biological specimens. Those specimens include red blood cells, yeast cells and recombinant proteins. She was influential in setting up the repository for the preserved red blood cells and continues to maintain the repository.
Abstract:
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is characterized by abnormally low levels of G6PD activity. Individuals with diminished G6PD activity are susceptible to cellular oxidative damage, and anti-malarial drugs such as those in the 8â€aminoquinolone group (e.g., primaquine, pamaquine, and tafenoquine) can cause acute hemolysis. These drugs are critical for radical cure of Plasmodium vivax. There is a need for point-of-care G6PD deficiency tests to support treatment of patients with these drugs. Using cryopreserved samples with known G6PD phenotype and genotype will help with the development and evaluation of current and new G6PD tests. We evaluated the feasibility of developing a G6PD specimen repository by cryopreservation of red blood cells. The current repository constitutes specimens from adults of known G6PD-deficient populations with diverse ethnic backgrounds. Standard operation procedures and formulations have been optimized to allow cryopreservation of red blood cells with stabilized G6PD activity within the red blood cell. Flow cytometry and kinetic assays demonstrate that specimens can be preserved for a minimum of 6 months under these optimized conditions. Critically, thawed samples demonstrate stability for seven days. We demonstrate by quantitative and qualitative G6PD enzyme activity assays the feasibility of this approach. Furthermore, we demonstrate by flow cytometry that G6PD activity distributions in red blood cells are also preserved
Olga Potapova
Cureline, Inc., USA
Title: International Biobanking of Human Biospecimens for Precision Medicine
Time : 14:10-14:35
Biography:
Olga Potapova is a life sciences executive with extensive scientific and project management expertise in translational oncology, diagnostics and laboratory medicine. She worked on development of targeted therapies (SUTENT) and human prenatal diagnostic tests (Cystic Fibrosis); coordinated major international collaboration projects with an emphasis on RTK signal transduction research, human biospecimen procurement, preclinical and early clinical development. Currently Dr. Potapova leads Cureline, a Human Biospecimen CRO providing services for drug discovery, biomarker research and companion diagnostics development. Olga received multiple AACR/AFLAC awards, NIH and NATO fellowships, and has published multiple scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. Since 2010, Dr. Potapova has been a Principal Investigator for The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program. She has advanced degrees in Physics and in Molecular Genetics/Biochemistry.
Abstract:
Human biospecimens are the foundation for the development of the precision medicine, including effective translational medical research, discovery of new drugs and novel biomarkers and development of personalized molecular diagnostics. Modern biomedical research requires continuous supply of legally and ethically acquired high quality human biospecimens and associated clinical and molecular data. Various important topics of human tissues research will be discussed: Preservation of pre-analytical biospecimen variables, significantly confounding research of the disease biomarkers and development of modern diagnostics. Pre-analytical aspects of human biospecimen procurement: tissue collection specifications, processing materials and methods, storage and shipping procedures, and analyte preparation techniques. Collection of biospecimens using standard protocols versus custom protocols and effective use of currently available biorepositories for future studies on the indicated subject. Clinical data collection and management. HIPPA Privacy Rules for research specimens. Regulatory and legal issues on human tissue procurement for research purposes, including international disparities in regulations on use of human materials for biomedical research. The cost of biobanking, available resources, and strategies for creating a self-sustaining biorepository. Effective utilization of human biospecimens in modern biomedical research: The Cancer Genome Atlas as modern approach to genomics cancer research. A successful international project by the NCI (NIH, USA). Useful resources: ISBER, CAP, AACR, NCI, etc.
Biography:
Zdenka Prodanovic has a Bachelor of Economics, a Bachelor of Science, and a Graduate Diploma of Laboratory Medicine, specialising in haematology and blood banking. With experience in both private and public diagnostic laboratories, Zdenka first joined the Biobank as Data Manager at Southern Health. She was later appointed as a Medical Scientist, and eventually became Tissue Bank Manager in 2009. Zdenka is actively involved in advisory and steering committees, and has extensive experience in presenting to medical, surgical and research teams.
Abstract:
Monash Surgical Oncology Biobank (MSOB) was set up in large tertiary hospital to enable research of various clinical teams and academia. MSOB operates under pathology services within Monash Health and collaborates with Paediatric Oncology Biobank from Monash Children’s. Biobank activity set up, operation and integration into current translational model is faced with many stakeholders. Donor recruitment, multilingual environment we are operating in, level of understanding of our activities, decision making on participation would be one part of challenges we have. Sample collection, processing, storage and supply for research; updates on research outcomes and its effects on patient care on the other side. Going beyond the above activities, biobank like ours offers additional support to research helping with digital pathology image analysis, dealing with “difficult” antibodies for researchers, creating tissue micro arrays (TMA) to speed up research outcomes, would be some of them. As a result of its hard work MSOB is operating successfully within research environments it is directly or indirectly linked to. It has managed to integrate its activity across various clinical groups and is directly supported by them. There is proportion of funding allocated to biobank activity on behalf of each group. In return these groups receive quality support for their own research projects. Key to creation of sustainable environment is integrating all of the above activities, understanding your role as biobank and willingness to work tirelessly.
Britt Gustaffson & Christian Pou
Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden
Title: Virome characterization from Guthrie Cards in Children Who Later Developed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Time : 15:00-15:30
Biography:
Professor Britt Gustafsson:
Dr Britt Gustafsson works as a paediatrician at Karolinska University Hospital, specialized into stem cell transplantation in children. Since 2001 she has been a senior consultant into paediatric haematology, an associate professor since 2004 and a professor since 2013. She has been the main tutor for three PhD students, who graduated 2010, 2011 and 2014 and she has three more PhD students, where one of the students will work with backtracking leukemic clones back to the Guthrie cards.
She has published more than 65 articles, where many of the articles are focused on searching for virus infections in neonatal blood spots (Guthrie cards).
Since 2015 she is an associate editor for Paediatric Transplantation, and she is also a member of several scientific committees and since 2010 the regional ethic committee in Stockholm.
Her scientific work is supported by the Swedish Childhood Cancer Society. During the last 5 years she has also worked as a volunteer doctor in Zambia and Kenya
Christian Pou, PhD:
Christian Pou received his PhD in 2013 in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biomedicine at the Institute for AIDS Research and at the University Autonoma of Barcelona. During his PhD, he was involved in the design, optimization and implementation of next sequencing strategies tailored to characterize the clinical value ultrasensitive HIV-1 genotyping to determine antiretroviral resistance and viral tropism. He is currently working as a postdoc developing next generation protocols for viral discovery, virome characterization and viral recombination at Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Science for Life Laboratory and Karolinska University Hospital.
Abstract:
The etiology of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is unclear in 95% of all cases. Some authors postulate that an in utero event that causes a cytogenetic aberration could be “the first step” that leads to the development of the leukemic clone. The aim of this study is to identify prevalent in utero DNA virus infections from children who later developed ALL as potential etiological agents of leukemogenesis. To do that, the virome of children who later developed ALL was characterized from dried blood spots (DBS) taken at birth and was compared to the virome of the control group by unbiased next-generation sequencing (NGS). Guthrie cards from 95 children diagnosed with ALL at 1-15 years of age at time of diagnosis and from 95 healthy controls, matched for age and birthplace, were analyzed. Whole blood was dissolved from the Guthrie cards and DNA was extracted using the MEM method. Two pools of extracted DNA from patient and control samples were prepared, randomly amplified and sequenced by illustra GenomiPhi and Illumina sequencing, generating approximately 7,4 million paired-end reads from each group. About 25% of the reads from each group were kept after quality filtering and 99.5% of remaining reads mapped to the human genome. No relevant viruses were found in the control group, whereas virome characterization of patients revealed the presence of human herpes virus type 6 (HHV-6) and parvovirus B19, which may play a role in leukemogenesis. However, the association between these viruses and the disease needs to be further investigated.
Asma Althani
Qatar University, Qatar
Title: Qatar Biobank and Qatar Genome Programs Road Map to Success
Time : 16:10-16:35
Biography:
Dr Asma Al-Thani is an Associate Professor of Virology at the Biomedical Program - Department of Health Sciences- College of Arts and Sciences. Dr Al-Thani obtained her Ph.D degree in (2005) from the University of London in the United Kingdom. Dr Al-Thani also fulfills roles as Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar since 2011, as Vice Chairperson of the Qatar Biobank Board since 2010 at Qatar foundation, nominate to be Chair of National Genome Qatar Committee since December 2013 and Director of Biomedical Research Center at Qatar University from Fall 2014. She also has numerous published articles in her field of expertise including, fifteen published papers in peer-reviewed international journals. She has also obtained several research grants, including 7 Qatar university grants, 13 UREP grants and 4 NPRP grants.
Abstract:
Qatar Biobank “QBB” is a large-scale, long term medical research initiative for the population of Qatar, which will serve as a platform and driver of biomedical research to achieve benefits for Qatar’s communities. Following on from the announcement of the Qatar Genome Project in 2013 by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation “QF”, a National Genome Committee “NGC” is tasked with the role of driving and advising the development of the Genome Project in Qatar. To ensure the successful implementation and completion of a project of this complexity, it was important to consider carefully the organizational structure of Genome Qatar to enable success, so the decision was to establish QG project within the existing framework of the government of QBB. A road map constitutes of seven key building blocks, were identified to address the critical success factors and be managed and overseen by the Board of Trustee for both QBB & QG program. The seven building blocks are 1-Develop a National Health Information System, 2-Enhancement of the National Biobank, 3-Develop Genomics Infrastructure,4- Develop Policy Framework for genomics and precision medicine, 5-Workforce Development ,6- Research & Partnership and 7- Clinical / Medical implementation. To successfully accomplish this ambitious role a road map is initiated by a pilot phase to establish the infrastructure and human capacity for 12-18 months to tackle problems, identify loopholes, analyze the needs and optimize systems that are needed for the entire Qatar Genome project. The aim will be to sequence 1000-3000 genomes to develop a good model of practice for regulatory compliant, sample collection and storage, high quality data generation, analysis and annotation pipeline development and data warehouse establishment.
Maui Hudson & Lynley Uerata
University of Waikato, New Zealand
Title: Indigenous Ethics and Biobanking: The Aotearoa New Zealand Experience
Time : 16:35-17:00
Biography:
Maui Hudson is from Whakatohea, Nga Ruahine and Te Mahurehure. Maui Hudson is a research developer and interdisciplinary researcher based at the University of Waikato. He holds Senior Research Fellow positions within the Maori and Indigenous Governance Centre in the Faculty of Law and the Environmental Research Institute in the Faculty of Science and Engineering. He has worked in the research sector for over 10 years in both CRI and University settings, is a member of the Whakatohea Maori Trust Board and a trustee/director on a number of their iwi entities. He has expertise in strategic thinking and innovation planning particularly around R&D for Maori collectives. Maui has a diverse range of research interests in the area of the interface between matauranga Maori and science, ethics & new technologies, traditional medicine, and Maori economic development. Maui has been a member of a number of ethics and advisory committees and was a co-author of Te Ara Tika: Guidelines on M?ori Research Ethics ? A framework for researchers and ethics committee members. He is the principal investigator for an HRC funded project developing cultural guidelines for biobanking and genomic research and an MBIE funded project on integration of matauranga Maori and science in the context of freshwater management. Maui is also a key researcher on a NPM funded project ?Optimising the Maori in Maori Economic Development? and a co-lead for the Implementation of The Mauri Ohooho Maori Economic Development Strategy for the Bay of Connections. Lynley is a researcher on the Te Mata Ira research project exploring the views of Maori, an Indigenous population in New Zealand, on genomic research and biobanking with the aim to develop guidelines for engaging M?ori in these contexts. Lynley gained a Honours (first class) in Psychology, Industrial Relations and Human Resources, and a Masters (first class) in Social Science Research exploring the experiences of people with chronic conditions in finding and keeping work. She has been involved in and completed a number of research projects in health, education and public policy, including the application of biofeedback technology on the educational experience of Pacifica students, student evaluations in a tertiary context, the effectiveness of an Indigenous mentoring service in a tertiary education context, safety and efficacy around the use of medication in households with children, and the engagement of minority communities in public policy development. Keenly interested in research relating to the human psyche, health research, public policy, and social justice.
Abstract:
The recognition of indigenous Maori rights in New Zealand has led to greater consultation and involvement of those communities in the ethical review processes for health research. Maori have been contributing to the debates around research ethics and genetics for a number of years. Recent publications, Guidelines for Researchers on Health Research involving Maori (2010) and Te Ara Tika Guidelines on Maori Research Ethics (2010), provide a framework for understanding indigenous Maori views on health research and ethics. These documents note the heightened sensitivities that exist for Maori around the use of human tissue and genetic information in research but do not provide practical advice for genetic researchers or biobanks. Indigenous and Maori views on biobanking and genomic research have been explored through a Health Research Council (New Zealand) funded project ‘Te Mata Ira’. The project involved a mix of interviews and workshops with Indigenous informants, Maori participants, and bio-medical researchers. This paper will present the results of the project and the cultural foundation which frames Maori guidelines for biobanking and genomic research.
Estefania Paredes
University of Tennessee, USA
Title: Biobanking of sea uchin embryos: applications in Ecotoxicology
Time : 17:00-17:25
Biography:
Estefania Paredes holds a degree in Ciencias del Mar (2008) at Universidade de Vigo-Spain with a specialization in Marine environment conservation and marine pollution. She obtained her PhD in 2014 at the Universidade de Vigo with the tesis entitled “Cryopreservation of marine invertebrate earlyâ€life stages: applications in marine water quality assessment and aquaculture” work which was awarded by Universidade de Vigo as outstanding Thesis 2014. Estefania spent some time working in several international research centers during her doctoral studies and currently holds a postdoctoral research associate position in Dr. Peter Mazur’s lab at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville working in Vitrification.
Abstract:
The sea urchin embryo has long been used as a model organism in developmental biology and for the assessment of marine pollution. The aim of this work is to provide an insight on the applications of cryopreserved sea urchin embryos in marine water quality assessment. A cryopreservation protocol for sea urchin embryos was developed, and results are presented about the use of the cryopreserved embryos in ecotoxicological toxicity tests. The bioassay using cryopreserved sea urchin embryos was compared with the standard bioassay, and trends were obtained for selected chemical compounds relating both standard and new developed protocols. Results support our idea developed in 2007 that creating a bio-bank of sea urchin embryos would help overcome one of the main constraints of the applications of embryo-larval bioassays to the assessment of marine water quality. We have developed a bioassay using cryopreserved sea urchin embryos and probed that our banked biological test model could be used for ecotoxicology. This is the first time such technique is applied to sea urchins in the context of ecotoxicology and this work refers to the only protocol published for P. lividus cryopreservation
- Young Research Forum
Session Introduction
Arne Hoffman
Pathology VUmc, Netherlands
Title: Towards a Dutch National Tissuebank Portal: one portal to access all pathology archives for research.
Time : 15:30-15:55
Biography:
Chantal Steegers is project manager of the BBMRI-NL Rainbow 8 project Dutch National Tissuebank Portal. Before this she worked at the Ethics department of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and at the Rathenau Institute promoting political and public opinion on secondary use of residual tissue. She has published two books on the use of human tissues and cells.
Abstract:
The Dutch National Tissuebank Portal (DNTP) project aims to achieve increased, easier and improved secondary use of residual human tissue samples (FFPE blocks) from all pathology laboratories in the Netherlands. Currently, there are more than 60 million archived FFPE samples with standardized associated data which can be used for research purposes. With the DNTP researchers can request samples online through the portal from where the request will automatically be sent to the pathology laboratory where the samples are stored. After approval from a research- and privacy committee and the participating laboratory a DNTP employee will collect the samples and send them to the researcher. Pathology laboratories can request a sample to return, if this sample is needed for delayed patient care. The result will be that in the Netherlands we have established a professional research infrastructure that will provide virtual and physical access to all residual FFPE pathology samples and their associated data for research purposes. Nowhere in the world does such a web based portal exist that supports pathology laboratories and researchers in their quest of searching, requesting, registering, retrieving and returning archived FFPE samples for research from all the national pathology archives. This project was financially supported by Biobanking and Biomolecular Research Infrastructure The Netherlands (BBMRI-NL), a Research Infrastructure financed by the Dutch Government (NWO 184.021.007). BBMRI-NL co-ordinates the collaboration between Dutch biobanks. It is not a biobank itself, but facilitates collaboration by harmonisation and enrichment of existing biobanks.