International Biobank Conference Held in Shanghai

On July 8^th and 9^th, the International Conference for Biobank Management and QC & Shanghai Biobank Development Workshop 2011 was successfully held in Shanghai Galaxy Hotel by the Shanghai Clinical Research Center (SCRC). Over 200 participants including executives, experts, doctors and researchers from foreign and domestic universities, institutes, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies attended the conference and exchanged thoughts and experiences.

The conference has invited speakers from world renowned biobank projects and institutes, such as Dr. Kurt Zatloukal, coordinator of ESFRI, Biomedical and Biobanking Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI), Dr. Bruno Clement, head of the INSERM Unit "Liver, Metabolisms and Cancer", Dr. Georges Dagher, deputy director of Clinical Research Dept, INSERM, Kirsty Lomas, project manager, UK Biobank, as well as domestic experts Professor Jiayou Chou fromChinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Medical Biology Institute of Beijing Union Medical College and Professor Youyong Lv from the college of clinical oncology, Beijing University.

With the theme of "Biobank Management and Quality Control", the conference explored the latest development, shared best practice and featured first-hand experience in the key issues related to biobank development in the three sessions of conference, namely "the development and management of biobank", "standardization and quality management system of biobank" and "quality control of biobank".

"China has large clinical specimen resources, and also has the capacity to reserve and keep the specimen properly. A high-quality and standardized biobank would provide strong support to the nation's biomedical industry, bioscience research and clinical research." Dr. Rongxing Gan, director of SCRC said.