On 26th April the Nordic Precision Medicine Forum landed in Stockholm for its seventh year, but this time it was bigger and better with the addition of the Nordic AI and Data in Medicine and Healthcare Forum and the Nordic Digital Health Forum.
The conference, which was held at the impressive München Bryggeriet venue, was split into three exciting tracks giving delegates the opportunity to listen to talks in a variety of subject areas.
The event kicked off with an opening plenary of speakers from each of the four countries giving a Nordic update. This included Bettina Lundgren, CEO of the Danish National Genome Center, Richard Rosenquist Brandell, Director of Genomic Medicine Sweden, Nils Olav Refsdal, Assistant Director General at the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Markus Perola, Research Professor at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. This opening presentation gave the delegates a fascinating update on the different regional initiatives that are now up and running successfully.
After the opening plenary the conference split into three tracks, each with its own set of compelling speakers and presentations. The Precision Medicine Forum was expertly chaired by Bettina Lundgren. Meanwhile Dr Zoher Kapacee, Head of Data and AI at the Health Research Authority, UK, led the AI and Data in Medicine and Healthcare Forum. Finally, Nasim Farrokhnia, MD, PhD, Industry Advisor, Healthcare Executive (Western Europe) at Microsoft, and Malin Johansson, Global Head of Digital Partnerships at Novo Nordisk, were the fantastic chair people for the Digital Health stream.
Richard Rosenquist Brandell, Director, Genomic Medicine Sweden and Bettina Lundgren, CEO, the Danish National Genome Center.
Fascinating presentations
Day 1 of the event had many highlights including a thought-provoking panel discussion on multi-omics, featuring Graham Belfield, Director NGS/Transcriptomics, Translational Genomics at AstraZeneca, Michael Wierer, Director, Proteomics Research Infrastructure (PRI) at the University of Copenhagen, and Johan Kolmert, Senior Research Scientist at Karolinska Institute, and a fascinating presentation in the Digital Health track from Daniel Lasserson, Professor of Acute Ambulatory Care at the University of Warwick and Clinical Lead, Acute Hospital at Home, Oxford University Hospitals NHS on Point of Care diagnostics and Care Pathway Precision in acute hospital at home.
The first day finished with a lively drinks reception in the evening sun overlooking the Söderström.
Marcus Perola, Research Professor, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. Photo: Linda Tammisto
Lively discussions
Day 2 started bright and early with a fresh line-up of speakers and an interesting set of workshops from companies such as Illumina, Oncodia, ThermoFisher Scientific and the NHS. Once again, the day was full of fascinating presentations which brought out lively discussion and busy Q&A sessions. Olivia Rekman, Innovation Adviser, AI & Data program at Nordic Innovation gave a great presentation to the AI and Data part of the event whilst over in the Digital Health stream Joakim Börjesson from RISE Research Institute’s of Sweden presented on sustainable health with health data. There were several more panel discussions on day 2 of the event including a thought-provoking chat between Margareta Haag from Vision Cero Cancer and Begoña Nafría Escalera, Patient Engagement in Research Coordinator at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona, on Patient involvement in Precision Medicine.
The conference was split into three tracksgiving delegates the opportunity to listen to talks in a variety of subject areas.
More than fifty speakers
Across the two-day event there were more than fifty speakers presenting over the three tracks. Each presentation brought up many questions and insightful discussion, and people were able to network during the breaks. This event was a wonderful experience for people involved in medicine and healthcare in the Nordic region and also other countries nearby.
The team hope to see you all at the Nordic Precision Medicine Forum, AI and Data in Healthcare and Medicine, and Digital Health in April 2024.
This summary was originally written by Carrie Bennett for NLS magazine No 02 2023, out May 2023
