ELIXIR Bioinformatics Industry Forum (EBIF) 2025

Tue 17 Jun 2025 - 9:30 to Tue 17 Jun 2025 - 18:00

BST

BMA House
Tavistock Square
London
WC1H 9JP
United Kingdom

Federated life science data analysis: Overcoming challenges for global impact

The annual ELIXIR Bioinformatics Industry Forum is a one-day event that brings together bioinformaticians and technical specialists to explore solutions to major challenges in the data-driven life science sector.

This year’s Forum theme is Federated life science data analysis: Overcoming Challenges for Global Impact. The programme features a variety of presentations from industry, academia, and international organisations, offering participants a chance to share experiences, best practices and research breakthroughs. The forum aims to stimulate discussions among solution providers and enable potential collaborations.

09:00–09:30	Registration and welcome coffee
09:30–10:00	Welcome to the event by ELIXIR (Despoina Sousoni) Introduction and expectations of the day: Tim Hubbard (ELIXIR Director) Becky Upton (President of the Pistoia Alliance) Matt Hall (Industry Partnerships, EMBL-EBI) Sasha Siegel (Chief Product Officer, GA4GH)
10:00–11:15	Session 1: Publicly-Funded Initiatives in Federated Data Analytics Chair: Jana Broecker Carles Hernandez (Barcelona Supercomputing Center): Federated analytics: From the perspective of GDI and EUCAIM European research projects to involving the industry Emily Jefferson (HDR UK): Federated Data Analytics across Trusted Research Environments: The experiences of DARE UK and EOSC-ENTRUST Philip Gribbon (EU-OPENSCREEN): IDERHA – a forerunner project developing an EHDS aligned infrastructure to enable federated analysis of heterogenous health data Heidi Laine (LUMI AI Factory): Data flows in the European AI Factories ecosystem 10-min presentations followed by 20-min Q&A and panel discussion
11:15–11:45	Coffee break
11:45–13:00	Session 2: Industrial Approaches in Federated Data Analytics Chair: John Wise Mark Hughes (Zetta Genomics): Unified Omics in the Era of Data Federation Philip Quinlan (University of Nottingham) & Anni Ahonen-Bishopp (BC Platforms): Delivering impact by partnership, the Bunny story Matthias Orlowski (Bayer AG): Business-ready NLP models through Federated Learning. A Bayer-Roche Collaboration Christina Chatzipantsiou (Lifebit): Multi-party trusted research environment federation: Establishing infrastructure for secure analysis across different clinical-genomic datasets 10-min presentations followed by 20-min Q&A and panel
13:00–14:00	Lunch break
14:00–14:45	Panel Discussion: Fostering Collaborations in Federated Data Analytics
14:45–16:55	Round-table Discussions (Coffee will be served outside the room) 3-minute flash talk introductory presentations of the topics, followed by two rounds of 30-minute discussions: Discussion rounds: First round: 15:10–15:50 Second round: 15:50–16:30 How Federated Analysis Would Be Feasible in EHDS Cross-Border Context Chair: Miikka Kallberg, Development Manager, CSC – IT Center for Science Ltd, Finland Leveraging AI in Federated Genomics: Opportunities and Challenges Ahead Chair: Mark Hughes, CCO at Zetta Genomics Tokenisation of Data / The Cost and Volume of Data Chair: Shirin Elizabeth Khorsandi, Senior Lecturer, King’s College London Initial Steps in Federated Analysis and Developing the Appropriate Ecosystem at the National Level Chair: Christine Stansberg, Group Leader, Sensitive Data, IT Division, University of Bergen 5-minute wrap-up presentations of the discussions
16:55–17:00	Wrap-up of the event
17:00 onwards	Networking drinks

Theme and objectives of the event

Theme summary: Federated life science data analysis faces significant challenges, including data privacy concerns, regulatory hurdles, and the need for standardised protocols to ensure interoperability. These obstacles hinder the seamless sharing and analysis of sensitive data, which is crucial for advancing research and innovation. The current landscape is fragmented, with various stakeholders employing different approaches and technologies, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities. By fostering collaboration and dialogue, we hope to drive progress in federated life science data analysis and its applications. This event aims to bring together experts from academia and industry to share insights, best practices, and innovative solutions, and explore potential pre-competitive collaborations.

Objectives of the day:

Learn from best practices and experiences of established players
Understand the relevant ecosystem
Discover existing gaps and potential research business opportunities
Gain insights into research and technological breakthroughs
Encourage discussions among solution providers and foster potential collaborations

Target audience

Professionals from:

Large, medium and small enterprises from pharmas and service providers
Funding bodies
Academia
Nonprofit and public organisations
Patients’ and clinicians’ associations

With research interests in:

Health and life sciences
Data management
Innovative services in the above areas

Travel information

Address: BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JP. See this document for detailed information on how to get there.

Recommended accommodation:

Premier Inn Euston hotel

Tavistock hotel

Hilton London Euston

Premier Inn London St Pancras hotel

Background information

See the Bioinformatics Industry Forum page.

70
participants per event, on average

60
companies joined our two F2F events

92%
of participants would recommend the event to their colleagues

A very useful forum to connect with people from ELIXIR who are deeply embedded in the European space of bioinformatics while learning about latest advances in the field.
- Sebastian Schwarz (Data Platform Strategy Lead, Owkin)

A wonderful event, really excellent talks covering a range of relevant challenges which our community needs to think carefully about. And networking is always invaluable!
- Anonymous

Thank you providing such a brilliant forum for discussion. I have many actions and people to follow up with.
- Anonymous