.:: 15th International Congress of the World Muscle Society

Adhering to the traditional WMS format the conference will focus upon the following 3 selected topics:

1. New Therapeutic Targets for Neuromuscular Disorders
2. Congenital Muscular Dystrophies
   (Celebrating 50th Anniversary of Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy)
3. Distal Myopathies and Protein Aggregation Myopathies

12-16 October, 2010

Kumamoto, Japan

Further Information can be found on the WMS 2010 conference website

.:: International Data Sharing Conference 2010

Registration is now open for the International Data Sharing Conference 2010, which will bring together key figures from academia, research ethics committees and clinical practice to discuss how the increase in data storage and access are changing scientific practice, as well as raising a number of technological, legal, ethical and social challenges for people working in the field of genomics.

The conference will seek to address some of the challenges of data sharing - such as: How should data-generators be rewarded for their efforts to the scientific community ? Can we promise anonymity of research participants when whole sequences and phenotypic data are being used for research purposes ? What is the best way to harmonise different datasets collected for different purposes ? Should participants be fed back individual findings ? Are our national research governance systems adequate to cope with global data sharing ?

20 - 22 September, 2010

St Hugh's College, Oxford, UK

Conference Website : http://helex.medsci.ox.ac.uk/data-sharing-international-conference-1

:: 12th International Congress on Neuromuscular Diseases

19-23 July, 2010

Naples, Italy

To register : http://www.icnmd2010naples.org/registration.asp

:: 20th Meeting of the European Neurological Society (ENS)

The ENS Meeting provides an ideal platform for continuing education in all fields of neurology, from teaching courses to workshops, and fosters the exchange of new research data with academic neurologists and neuroscientists in the symposia, satellite symposia, and free communications covering a wide spectrum of topics in neurology and related fields.

19 – 23 June, 2010

Berlin, Germany

More information : http://www.congrex.ch/ens2010/

:: BBMRI Stakeholders’ Forum “The European Biobanking Research Infrastructure: A Step Closer”

Registration is now open until 28th May 2010 for this meeting organised by the Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI). Some 120 invited experts from the broad community of stakeholders of BBMRI, comprising researchers from academia and industry, clinical organisations, patient representatives, research administrators, ethicists and lawyers from all over Europe, including key representatives of many of the largest biobanking initiatives in the world, will gather to discuss the potential impact on biomedical research from the construction of a European biobanking research infrastructure.

Registration for this event is free but will require a completion of the registration form for participation. Interested parties can request copies and more information from dmitchell@ipposi.ie

9th June, 2010

Brussels, Belgium

Registration, Agenda, Practical Information : http://www.bbmri.eu/index.php/stakeholders-forum/events-and-reports/79

:: ECRD 2010 Krakow
5th European Conference on Rare Diseases
“From Policies to Effective Services for Patients”

The biennial European Conference on Rare Diseases is organised by EURORDIS and its partners, and is supported by the European Commission’s Health Programme. This time, the Jagiellonian University of Krakow in its impressive Auditorium Maximum will welcome 400 to 600 participants, coming from all over Europe, and the rest of the world, to discuss the following issues, which are of utmost importance to the rare disease community.
ECRD 2010 will address:

• How to improve access to orphan drugs?
• Is there an upper limit above which society is not willing to pay for a single patient?
• What is the best policy for Centres of Expertise for Rare Diseases?
• What are the determinants of research for rare diseases?

13-15 May, 2010

Auditorium Maximum of the Jagiellionian University, Krupnicza 33

Krakow, Poland

To register : http://www.rare-diseases.eu

:: ISBER 2010 Annual Meeting
Diversity in Biobanking: Embracing Differences, Harnessing Commonalities

This meeting of the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) will feature plenary sessions, interactive workshops, commercial workshops, contributed papers, poster sessions, focused round table lunch discussions, and subgroup and working group discussions. Vendors from around the world will demonstrate the latest products, services, and technology in the field of repository and specimen collection.

Session topics are expected to cover the following areas:

• Diversity in BioBanking: Embracing Differences, harnessing commonalities
• Connecting BioBanks
• QA: Harmonization
• Global Harmonization (Ethical, Legal and Social)

11-14 May, 2010

Rotterdam, The Netherlands, De Doelen Concert Hall and Congress Centre

More information and registration at : http://www.isber.org/

:: Comparative Issues in the Governance of Biobanks:
Property, Privacy, Intellectual Property and the Role of Technology

The development of new technologies gives rise to new tools in many areas of daily life. In some cases, these tools represent the evolution of existing technologies; in others, they are the product of technologies or methodologies completely new. Technology enhancement creates new instruments and entities which the legislator cannot take into consideration before their appearance. Consequently, technology often puts into crisis the existing legal categories, while new rules are often invoked. In this situation, the law offers two possible answers:

a) new legislation: technology becomes the engine of legal innovation;
b) new interpretations: adapting existing rules to the new needs triggered by technology.

7-8 May, 2010

Trento Faculty of Law, Italy

More information : http://events.unitn.it/en/biobanks

:: 8th Annual Meeting of the EuroBioBank Network/TREAT-NMD

29-30 April, 2010

Paris, France