The Irish, French and Austrian Embassies in Washington DC have organised a series of biomedical sciences cooperation seminars to be held in Washington DC on 4-6 June 2012. These meetings aim to encourage further dialogue on international Science Interaction between members of the US Congress, officials from EU Institutions, and leading international scientists as well as their industry partners.

The goal of these events is to raise awareness amongst EU and US decision-makers of the necessity of interactions between three levels of coordination at the international level: scientific, regulatory and political. The current recasts of the Clinical Trials Directive and the Medical Devices Directives, as well as the on-going discussion on Horizon 2020 at the European level, present a great basis for intensive international exchange.

Building thereon, Prof Jacques Demotes-Mainard, Coordinator of European Clinical Research Infrastructures Network (ECRIN), INSERM explains: “Development of interoperability between US and EU systems in terms of infrastructure, funding, legislation, and adoption of coordinated research strategies will create the research capacity required to tackle the major health challenges and to foster evidence-based medical practice worldwide."

Even though ECRIN, Information Technology Future of Medicine (ITFoM) and Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI) are currently European in scope, it is important to raise awareness of their international importance. Their proper integration into a global context is essential. “International research collaboration is more important than ever to efficiently respond to the upcoming grand challenges of providing sustainable health care. The events in Washington could be a kick-off to align and develop joint forces of leading initiatives in the field of medical research in Europe and US at the scientific and policy levels”, states Prof Kurt Zatloukal, Coordinator of BBMRI, Medical University of Graz.