Ethical Governance of Biological and Biomedical Research: Chinese - European Co-operation

The workshop report from the fourth and final BIONET workshop held in Shenzhen on the topic of biobanking and personal genomics is now available for download. The report summarises the discussions of around 60 scientists, social scientists, ethicists and clinicians from Europe and China who gathered in Shenzhen for a workshop on the ethics of genomic research and biobanking in April 2009.

In the last 3 years, BIONET has organised events in Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Xi'an and Shenzhen focusing on issues of ethical governance in advanced biological and biomedical research, especially as regards Chinese-European bioscience collaboration. These events have covered the topics of Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Stem Cell Research, Clinical Trials and  Biobanking. Workshop reports and other related publications from these events are available here.

BIONET's final conference will take place in London, 2-4 September 2009 with a specific focus on challenges that arise in Sino-European biological and biomedical research collaborations. Over the course of the three days, emerging patterns of scientific cooperation between two major players in the fields of contemporary life sciences and biomedicine - Europe and China - will be examined.

The key objectives of the conference are to:

· share the findings of the BIONET project in the fields of stem cell research, clinical trials and genomic research
· present a set of recommendations for best practice in the ethical governance of research collaborations in biological and biomedical research between Chinese and European scientists
· get feedback and inputs as to how we might proceed in order to ensure that ethical governance issues are constructively and effectively integrated into global biological and biomedical research collaborations.

About 100 participants will attend with keynote addresses from leading scientists, Ministry officials, Research councils as well as ethics committees from both China and Europe. There are a limited number of delegate spaces still open. Should you be interested in participating please contact Dr. Ayo Wahlberg.

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