Delegates from 17 countries from around the globe are taking part in a workshop organised by Qatar Precision Health Institute (QPHI), a Qatar Foundation initiative.

The two-day event that began Sunday aims to advance precision health and QPHI will help the participants with collaboration and knowledge transfer in advancing precision health in their countries.

QPHI, a global hub of genomics and biobanking and a national centre for research is hosting the workshop, titled, ‘Setting up Large-scale Programmes to Empower Precision Health’ with other global entities such as the International Agency for Research on Cancer/World Health Organisation (IARC/WHO) and Thermo Fisher Scientific.

The delegates are from countries across the Mena region, Africa, Asia, and Europe and the event focuses on high-level strategic priorities and objectives for national biobanking and population genomics programmes.

QPHI, IARC/WHO, and Thermo Fisher Scientific, recognise the value in sharing biobanking and predictive genomics knowledge to international science and policy leaders, empowering them to establish their own national initiatives. The workshop aims to provide international leaders with strategic and practical awareness on leveraging genomic data for precision health and predictive genomics, utilising population-based cohort studies for patient-centred outcomes, and the significance of adequate biobanking practices in precision health.

During one of the sessions, Prof Said Ismail, acting president of QPHI, commented: “We have accumulated extensive knowledge to share with our peers and are doing so with the best research partners. Achieving what we have so far is down to our far-reaching experience, and we aim to share this with fellow experts looking to start their own national programs.”

Experts from QPHI and other national partners led the conversation on critical topics such as building strategy and governance, public health, benchmarking business models, building human capacity, education and training, and predictive genomics. The workshop also covered the technical aspects of genomics programmes, with experts showcasing the best practices and sharing practical and theoretical experiences on infrastructure setup and building the necessary collaborations for developing national genome and biobanking programmes.

Dima Darwish, genomics education expert at QPHI, also emphasised: “Qatar is a thought leader in genomics, and as one of the earliest adopters of precision health, we’re proud to invite scientists and policymakers from all over world for this important workshop. This two-day event serves as a benchmarking tool to share our expertise and encourage the international research community to become involved in such initiatives.”