Spotlight

BioWales back with hot topics for 2010

BioWales is the flagship event for a life sciences industry that involves over 330 companies, employs over 15,000 people and contributes over £1.3bn to the Welsh economy. It returns in 2010 to showcase the bioscience sector in Wales to an international, commercial and academic audience of 400 delegates with a brokerage event and exhibition, and a conference covering hot topics such as stem cells, in which a great deal of work is currently taking place in Wales.

Next year’s conference will be looking at the hot topics in the sector, amongst them the key theme of stem cells industrialisation for drug development and therapy, with a line-up of eminent speakers including:

• Nobel Prize for Medicine winner Professor Sir Martin Evans, Professor of Mammalian Genetics at Cardiff University
• Stephen Minger, Head of Research and Development for Cell Technologies at GE Healthcare
• and Anthony Davies, VP Product Development at Geron

Nobel Laureate Sir Martin was the first to discover the existence of embryonic stem cells in mice and so he is often considered the ‘chief architect’ of stem cell research. In 2007 he was recognised with two colleagues by the Nobel Assembly for ‘a series of ground-breaking discoveries concerning embryonic stem cells and DNA recombination in mammals’.

Other themes featuring at BioWales 2010 are:

• Translational research
• Point of care diagnostics
• Cancer genetics
• Futurewatch – a regular annual feature that highlights the next big thing in life sciences
  
  

New for 2010 is a series of workshops built into the programme to which delegates are invited to sign up in advance. These cover the topics of FP7 R&D funding from the EU; finance; and opportunities in Wales.

Event project manager Dr. Sharon Thomas said: “We’ve assembled a high quality programme of speakers from some major companies and academic institutions, covering some very hot topics.

BioWales 2010 will also feature a vibrant trade fair and unmissable brokerage event. The biopartnering event at BioWales has a proven track record in bringing people together in technical match ups to do business. It creates a real buzz of networking and deal making, resulting in direct business, and that has to be good news for this sector in Wales.”