On July 16, 2010, Shanghai Clinical Research Center and the Cancer Hospital organized together the first "Symposium on Shanghai Bio-bank Development" in Shanghai.  The whole day was dedicated to the theme of "The Organization and Construction of Bio-bank".  The conference was not only the first of this kind to be held in Shanghai, but also in China.

 

More than 80 doctors and experts from 14 leading hospitals, such as Zhongshan Hospital, Huashan Hospital, Cancer Hospital, Ruijin Hospital, Longhua Hospital (Shanghai University of T.C.M) etc., were present at the symposium. Some investigators and professionals from research institutes also attended the meeting, such as the Institute of Health Science from Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences (SIBS), CAS and pharmaceutical companies as Novartis.

 

The symposium was aimed at promoting bio-bank development in Shanghai, which is essential for the translational medicine research, the discovery of new treatments and new drug development. As one of the leading cities in biopharmaceutical research and new drug development, it is important for Shanghai to be the pioneer in bio-bank development and translational medicine research in its future development. 

 

This  symposium also benefited from great support from the government.  QIgao Zhu, the Head of the biopharmaceutical division of the Shanghai Science and Technology Committee reported a message from the Vice Mayor of Shanghai, Xiaoming Shen, who offered 11 suggestions for bio-bank construction and development, and highlighted "standards, open and sharing system, and information management"as key issues for the bio-bank construction. Zhu also mentioned that the government, hospitals and related organizations should work together to make the Shanghai Bio-bank the most important resource platform for translational research with international influence.

 

It was the first great step towards the construction of a bio-bank that would be in compliance with world standards and expectations. There will be a series of seminars focusing on bio-bank development following this one to provide a platform for sharing experience and perspectives and exchanging information.