Practical Biobanking Events at Nowgen

Nowgen, A Centre for Genetics in Healthcare, is hosting a 2nd Practical Biobanking Course in partnership with the Centre for Integrated Genomic Medical Research (CIGMR) at The University of Manchester, and the UK DNA Banking Network. The first workshop, held at the Nowgen Centre in November 2007, was a great success, attracting 45 delegates from 14 different countries. One delegate commented: “Very satisfied! All important topics were covered.”

Dr Martin Yuille, a reader in CIGMR who heads up the UK DNA Banking Network, commented: “Biobanks – and linking them together – have become critically important because no one researcher can possibly collect the vast numbers of patients or subjects needed in modern genetics or epidemiology. But Biobanks are big and complicated. So biobanking itself has become a new specialism. This expertise is essential underpinning for studies in complex diseases such as diabetes, heart disease or cancer where genes, environment and lifestyle all act together to start the disease process.”

The second workshop, running from 30 June until 1 July, will build on the strengths of the first, and also include a trip to UK Biobank, a project hosted by The University of Manchester and located in Cheadle. CIGMR’s Professor Bill Ollier explained: “By including a visit to UK Biobank we will provide delegates with direct experience of a cutting edge biobanking facility. This, along with the lectures and discussions, will be invaluable to those who need facilities themselves.”

Course sponsors include: Metabion, RTS, Qiagen, Sequenom, ThermoFisher, Whatman, Vindon and Wolf Laboratories.

Course places are still available. Please click here for further information.