Scientific Conference 2021

A discussion about 20 years of UK Biobank
The Scientific Conference in November 2021 kicked off with a discussion of the past and future of UK Biobank. It was led by BBC's Medical Editor, Fergus Walsh and we were joined by Sir Jeremy Farrar, Professor Fiona Watt and Professor Sir Rory Collins.
On-demand content from this discussion is available to watch on this webpage.
Genetic sequencing in UK Biobank:
This session covered 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.
Whole body imaging:
This session covered the outstanding potential these data present to the research community and revealed 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.
Health outcome data:
This session reviewed the value of primary care data for research purposes and steps that are being put in place to access these data. This session also included information on the rationale for UK Biobank’s new Research Analysis Platform and how researchers can access the data.
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS!
Hannah Meyer, from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York is UK Biobank's Early Career Researcher of the Year 2021!
Hannah's work on Genetic and functional insights into the fractal structure of the heart can be viewed in session 3 of the conference on-demand content.
The two runners up were:
- Jessye Maxwell from King’s College London and
- Abhishek Niroula from the Broad Institute.
UK Biobank Doctoral Student of the Year 2021: Thesis in Three Minutes
New for 2021 – we received many great video submissions from some excellent students using the resource, you can view all the submissions via the UK Biobank Twitter account and YouTube channel.
The winner was Ben Faber from Bristol University – for his video on:
Does your hip shape cause osteoarthritis: findings from UK Biobank.

Agenda
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)

Ass. Professor 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)
Last updated