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Autumn Scientific Conference 2021

Changing the face of global research

The next virtual UK Biobank Scientific Conference will take place on the 17th November 2021, 13:00-17:15 (GMT), 08:00-13:15 (EST). You can expect world-leading speakers, exciting data developments and updates on novel scientific results.

It is almost two decades since UK Biobank was first imagined and we are incredibly proud of all that UK Biobank has achieved over the last 20 years, thanks to the ongoing commitment of the participants and support of our funders and the research community.

Fergus Walsh, the BBC’s Medical Editor, will kick off the meeting by asking Fiona Watt (Executive Chair of the MRC) and Jeremy Farrar (Director of the Wellcome Trust) about the funders’ long-term vision for UK Biobank.

The event is open to all, whether from academia, industry or somewhere in between; join us to find out more about how our open access data can facilitate your research to tackle the major health issues facing us today.

The Sessions

You need to register for all three sessions individually to attend the whole afternoon of stimulating talks.

  • Genetic sequencing:
    This session will cover the exciting data releases of whole-exome and whole- genome sequencing on half a million participants - making UK Biobank by far the largest sequencing project anywhere in the world – and how these data are being made available to researchers. 

          Book today

  • Whole body imaging:
    This session will cover the outstanding potential these data present to the research community and reveal some key findings made so far, including how repeat scanning has enabled novel research into the ongoing health implications of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the brain.  

         Book here

  • Health outcome data:
    This session will review the value of primary care data for research purposes and steps that are being put in place to access these data. This session will also include information on the rationale for UK Biobank’s new Research Analysis Platform and how researchers can access the data.

          Grab your spot today!

Watch on-demand content from our previous conferences.

Session one:  Genetic Sequencing

Fergus Walsh

Session presenter: 20 years of UK Biobank

13:00 - 13:20 (GMT)

Sir Jeremy Farrar

Discussion of the past and future of UK Biobank

13:00 - 13:20 (GMT)

Professor Rory Collins

Discussion of the past and future of UK Biobank

13:00 - 13:20 (GMT)

Professor Fiona Watt

Discussion of the past and future of UK Biobank

13:00 - 13:20 (GMT)

Professor Marylyn Ritchie

Session Chair

13:20 - 14:20 (GMT)

Dr Ben Neale

Genebass: a portal to browse association results of the rare coding variation in UK Biobank

13:25 - 13:35 (GMT)

Professor Luca A Lotta

Genetics and obesity

13:35 - 13:45 (GMT)

Dr Kári Stefánsson

Value of whole genome sequencing

13:45 - 14:00 (GMT)

Dr Mary Helen Black

Applications of whole genome sequencing in pharmaceutical development

14:00 - 14:10 (GMT)

Professor Martin Tobin

Panel member

14:10 - 14:30 (GMT)

Dr Keren Carss

Panel member

14:10 - 14:30 (GMT)

Dr Yancy Lo

Panel member

14:10 - 14:30 (GMT)

Session two: Whole body imaging

Professor Paul Matthews

Session Chair

14:40 - 15:35 (GMT)

Dr Madeleine Cule

Imaging and artificial intelligence

14:45 - 14:55 (GMT)

Dr Wenjia Bai

Building the Shape Models for 100,000 Hearts

14:55 - 15:05 (GMT)

Gwenaëlle Douaud

COVID repeat imaging

15:05 - 15:15 (GMT)

Dr Donald Lyall

Panel member

15:15 - 15:35 (GMT)

Session three: Health outcome data

Professor Naomi Allen

Session Chair

15:50 - 16:45 (GMT)

Dr Michael Chapman

Linking to central NHS records

15:55 - 16:05 (GMT)

Dr Ben Goldacre

The value of GP data and data access

16:05 - 16:15 (GMT)

Dr Mark Effingham

The UK Biobank RAP and future data releases

16:15 - 16:25 (GMT)

Professor Liam Smeeth

Panel member

16:25 - 16:45 (GMT)

Professor Dame Clare Gerada

Panel member

16:25 - 16:45 (GMT)

Professor Rory Collins

Summary and Early Career Researcher Award announcement

16:45 - 17:00 (GMT)

Rt. Hon. Professor Lord Ajay Kakkar

Closing summary

17:00 - 17:15 (GMT)

COMPETITIONS OPEN FOR ENTRIES

UK Biobank Early Career Researcher of the Year 2021

We are looking to celebrate the creativity and imagination of early career researchers (up to 5 years’ post qualification). If that’s you, why not enter our competition to find the 2021 UK Biobank Early Career Researcher of the Year. Not only will that look good on your CV – but there is a top prize of £1,000 up for grabs and two runners up prizes of £500 each.

UK Biobank Doctoral Student of the Year 2021: Thesis in Three Minutes

We are seeking video submissions from PhD students using the UK Biobank resource to showcase the talented, imaginative study designs using UK Biobank data. These videos will be made available on the UK Biobank social channels and available to watch by the thousands of international researchers from industry and academia that attend the UK Biobank Scientific Conference every year. 20 submissions will be selected and the winning submission will receive £300 Amazon vouchers to support their studies.

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