Craig Willers Biobanking - Blue Sky Horizons (ABNA 19th Annual Conference)

Craig Willers

Craig recently established the ‘Western Australian Biobanking Model’ and is currently leading statewide efforts to implement and sustain the Model in his role as Statewide Biobanking Director (Acting) with PathWest and related work with the WA Department of Health. Previously, Craig was National Director of the Australian Arthritis and Autoimmune Biobank Collaborative (A3BC) from inception in 2016 to 2022, building the project from its small headquarters at the Kolling Institute in Sydney, into 8 operational nodes across the country. The A3BC collect and link a broad array of longitudinal biospecimens and datasets, including Commonwealth health data. In invited advisory roles, Craig was Chair of the Kolling Institute Data and Informatics Committee and is currently a member of the ISBER Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Working Group, who are drafting the upcoming 5th Edition ISBER Best Practices. Craig has worked in many health and medical research projects, including roles with university, state health, hospital, biotech and charity. Of note, Craig guided the foundations of NSW biobanking and bioinformatics strategy while employed by the NSW Office for Health and Medical Research and has worked with several national biobank groups.