ELSI Dialogues: Biobanking with children

This webinar will provide an outline of the regulatory background, information on ethical issues specific to biobanking from children and data sharing and children’s rights  

Speakers 

Sara Casati, PhD & MD in Bioethics, EMM in Research Infrastructures

A bioethicist, very fond of participatory approaches & deliberative methods, understanding the bioethics as a process of democratization of science. Since 2013, she is involved in the ELSI activities of the Italian National Node (BBMRI.it), most recently in providing ethical advice in relation to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. She serves as a national expert to BBMRI’s ELSI team as well as a member of BBMRI-ERIC’s ELSI Services & Research team where she currently leads the Task Force Research Ethics Committees. At both the national as well as European level, she contributes with her knowledge to shaping harmonised policies and good practice ELSI tools with a particular attention to open and fair access, public engagement and collaborative research, and to modelling empowerment settings with a focus on **vulnerability scenarios (Rare Disease patient, neurodegenerative disease patient, minor, student) and on ** scientific citizenship. 

Bridget Ellul, MB.ChB., MRCPath., FRCPath.

Dr Ellul is a medical graduate, specialized in Histopathology and Forensic Medicine, with an interest in medical law and bioethical issues. She has worked as a hospital consultant, a court expert and a lecturer, serving as Head of the Department of Pathology, University of Malta. She is currently an ELSI Adviser at the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Biobanking, which represents the University of Malta as the BBMRI.mt node, and is working on issues related to informed consent. She is a member of BBMRI-ERIC’s ELSI services and Research team, and a member of the REC task force, drawing on 15 years’ experience of work on Research Ethics Committees, assessing clinical trials and university research projects. She has served on the national Bioethics Consultative Committee and is familiar with medical regulatory affairs, having served on the Medical Council of Malta, on the Medical Specialist Accreditation Committee and as elected president of the Malta College of Pathologists.