The UMCG Cohort Symposium 2026 brings together researchers, healthcare professionals and data experts to explore how cohort and biobank research can drive data-driven innovation in healthcare. The symposium focuses on connecting data, disciplines and partners, with an emphasis on both scientific progress and societal impact. You can see the full Cohort Symposium programme over here.
Following a shared lunch, the afternoon programme opens with two keynote lectures. Lilian Peters will talk about connecting data across lines and domains, and Bart Scheerder will take us along in a story about the AI factory.
Associate Professor Lilian Peters presents FemHealthData. The mission of this data infrastructure is to improve women’s health across the life course. She introduces how long-term research, cross-domain collaborations, and active return of results form the foundation of a data infrastructure designed to make women’s health visible and impactful in research and care.
How can cohort and biobank researchers benefit from the Dutch AI Factory in Groningen (NLAIF)? This keynote explores practical ways to connect data, samples, metadata and expertise to the NLAIF, enabling secure and responsible AI development with sensitive health data. Bart explains how the UMCG is mobilizing the health and life sciences ecosystem by building use cases, supporting ready-to-run projects, and aligning governance and access with national and European initiatives such as the European Health Data Space (EHDS). The session looks ahead to the AI expertisecentre planned for 2026 and opportunities for early community engagement.
The remainder of the programme consists of two rounds of interactive breakout sessions. Participants can choose between sessions on data innovation, collaboration and applied use cases.
Topics include practical experiences with secure data sharing with external and societal partners, increasing visibility and awareness of your cohort, valorisation and impact of cohort research, cross-cohort collaboration, and the application of AI in cohort and biobank research. Real-world examples illustrate how collaboration across care pathways and disciplines can lead to meaningful insights.
The symposium concludes with a series of pitches followed by a closing session.
