Work Package 6 – Dissemination

Work Package leader: Maimuna Mendy, International Agency for Research on Cancer, mendym@visitors.iarc.fr

 

The goal of Work Package 6 (WP6) is to sensitize potential users and stakeholders about the availability of the eB3kit and the biobanking and bioinformatics platform, and to encourage their use in Africa and Europe, to facilitate collaboration and increase the efficiency of scientific research across the two continents.

Due to the diversity of roles of the key players within a research organization, several educational programmes and stakeholder forums will be implemented to target specific groups, including information technology (IT) professionals, researchers, clinicians, technicians, policy-makers, and ethics committee members.

In addition to the dissemination activities, training programmes will be organized in collaboration with the education and training Work Package (WP5) and technical and scientific Work Packages (WP2–4, 7). The stakeholder forums will discuss ethics, legal, and social issues (ELSI) related to biobanking and the basic ELSI principles that will be included in the regulatory framework (WP1). These principles will capture the diverse national, regional, and cultural specificities and promote the utility of the eB3kit.

Update on WP6 activities:

• Immediately after the kick-off meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, in August 2015, a press release was posted on partners’ websites: http://www.b3africa.org/?p=37
• An introductory video was also produced during the kick-off meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi_JaoPrts8
• The project website was launched in September 2015 and will be the main medium of communication with the wider community. It will provide information on project progress and outcomes: b3africa.org
• Periodic newsletters will be published to disseminate information to a wider audience. Subscribe to our newsletter here!
• A detailed dissemination plan is in preparation. To this end, we are currently compiling information on biobanking stakeholders at different levels (technical, ethical, political, etc.). We are also in the process of identifying relevant dissemination opportunities (conferences, papers, etc.).