Starting BIOMAP – The first IMI project in the field of dermatology

On 11-12 April 2019, the BIOMAP consortium came together in London, UK, to officially kick off the project activities. The meeting was hosted by Catherine Smith, BIOMAP co-coordinator, and her team from King´s College London.

The Project Coordinator, Stephan Weidinger (Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, CAU), and the Project Leader, Paul Bryce (Sanofi), gave an inspiring opening statement and then presented the overall project aims to the audience. The first meeting day continued with presentations by the different work package leaders and co-leaders and an exciting evening lecture on atopic disease as the next frontier in inflammatory disease by Frank Nestle, Global Head of Immunology Therapeutic Research Area at Sanofi. In his presentation he also outlined the future landscape of type 2 disease management. The first day of the event was concluded with a nicely organised dinner in the charming Apothecaries' Hall.

On day two of the meeting, the consortium focused on the overall project management as well as ethical issues to be considered in the course of the project, before splitting into working groups to discuss specific work package issues in thematic break-out sessions.

As BIOMAP aims to improve the lives of people with atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, a Patient Board will be established within the next months to ensure that patients’ needs will be at the heart of the project.

The BIOMAP partners will now focus on their dedicated work packages and further discuss ongoing and future activities in regular meetings and calls. The whole BIOMAP team is excited to be part of this large-scale international research initiative that will achieve scientifically inspiring results and solutions for skin inflammatory diseases in the next five years.