Representatives from the six work packages and institutions that participate in BBMRI.at (the Austrian Node of the European biobanking research infrastructure) met at the Medical University of Vienna for a productive one-day meeting. The agenda for the day included updates from each of the six Austrian universities (Medical University of Innsbruck, Medical University of Graz, Medical University of Vienna, University of Veterinary Medicine, Johannes Kepler University [JKU] Linz & the University of Vienna [UNIVIE]) and five biobanks (Biobank Innsbruck, Biobank Graz, MedUni Wien Biobank, VetBioBank & the JKU Biobank) that are part of the BBMRI.at consortium and closely cooperate.
UNIVIE’s participation in the meeting, through the Department of Innovation and Digitalisation in Law (ID Law), was assured by the team contributing to fulfilling UNIVIE’s tasks in BBMRI.at, under Work Package 2(WP2) ‘Legal and Regulatory Challenges and Opportunities’ The ID Law WP2 team updated BBMRI.at partners on the status of the Legal Helpdesk it operates and manages as well as the BBMRI.at Legal Knowledge Base. The Legal Knowledge Base – made possible by WP6, ‘Coordination’, led by Med Uni Graz on the BBMRI.at website under the ‘Legal issues’ section – is made available to the wider community.
Other relevant discussion points included the European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation, and the feasibility and merit of drafting a BBMRI.at-issued position paper or statement on this Regulation. Another talking point was Informed Consent, and the WP2-led efforts to organise a joint (with the BBMRI.at consortium) White Paper on this topic. It shall specifically cover the advantages and disadvantages as well as challenges and opportunities of pursing a united, uniform Informed Consent form for the Austrian biobanking community. WP2 also led some discussions on the topic of AI and biobanking, specifically concerning the definition of an AI system under the AI Act and the circumstances in which AI systems are developed as medical devices.
WP2 is grateful to the Medical University of Vienna for hosting this meeting!
