10 Years of BCNet: IARC’s Dr Zisis Kozlakidis presents at the 2025 AORTIC conference

Dr Zisis Kozlakidis, Head of Laboratory Support, Biobanking, and Services at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), is presenting on “10 Years of BCNet: Opportunities, Challenges and LMIC-Specific Experiences in Biobanking” at the biennial conference of the African Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC). The conference is taking place in Hammamet, Tunisia, on 2–5 November 2025.

Dr Kozlakidis will present in Hall 4 at 11:00 am local time on 3 November 2025. His presentation is a review of the activities of the Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) Biobank and Cohort Building Network (BCNet) over its first decade of operations, as well as how the delivery of the scientific information has changed over time, for example embracing the digital interface during the pandemic and promoting webinars to facilitate the exchange of ideas. There will also be a presentation on the impact of BCNet, as revealed by the collaborative projects and several scientific publications.

The AORTIC conference is the largest conference on cancer for the African continent. Beyond presentation of clinical and research topics, it serves as a reference point for training, workshops, addressing the challenges of creating national cancer control programmes, and raising public awareness of cancer in Africa.

BCNet activities and AORTIC have a close relationship. BCNet workshops have been run as part of previous AORTIC meetings, and several of the conference participants were trained by BCNet workshops in previous years, particularly on how to set up population cohorts for cancer research.

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