Connecting with researchers, industry and policymakers at the Exposome Austria Stakeholder Day

Throughout their lives, people are exposed to a wide range of chemicals and mixtures through diet, consumer products, water, air, indoor environments, and workplaces. For many of these exposures, the health effects remain largely unknown. Exposome research plays an important role in investigating these effects. Biobanks are pivotal role in this field, as high-quality samples and associated data from humans, animals, and/or the environment from the foundation for exposome studies.

Exposome Austria – the Austrian node of the EIRENE research infrastructure under the lead of Benedikt Warth (University of Vienna) – organized the Exposome Austria Symposium & Stakeholder Day in Horn. The event aimed to connect leading experts across exposome-related disciplines, including analytical chemistry, metabolomics, paediatrics, epidemiology, biobanking, cancer research, environmental sciences, and One Health.

Best-practice projects in the exposome field, with several involving BBMRI.at biobanks, were presented. Examples include

• the use of dried blood spots for exposome analysis in paediatrics (V. Hernandes / B. Warth, University of Vienna),
• research on environmental factors during pregnancy and the potential to reduce risks of premature labour, preeclampsia, or low birth weight (S. Granitzer / C. Gundacker, Medical University of Vienna),
• identification of a compound capable of absorbing PFAS in (waste) water, reducing pollution with this “forever chemical” (R. Woodward, University of Vienna), and
• human biomonitoring efforts by the Environment Agency Austria (M. Uhl, Umweltbundesamt).

The Stakeholder Day concluded with a panel discussion under the overarching theme “Science to Policy – Making Exposome Research Work for a Healthier Society”, moderated by Marlene Nowotny (ORF, Science Desk). Panelists included Alexander Pogany (Ministry for Innovation, BMIMI), Antonella Chiapparino (SCIEX),  Eva Schernhammer (Medical University of Vienna), Cornelia Stumptner (Med Uni Graz, BBMRI.at), Kateřina Šebková (Masaryk University, RECETOX), and Thomas Jakl (Ministry for Environment, BMLUK

Key questions explored were:

1. What makes exposome science particularly timely and impactful?
2. How can we enable reuse of exposome and HBM data across scientific and regulatory settings?
3. What are the best international practices for harmonizing and using exposome data?
4. How can infrastructures and vendors collaborate more systematically?
5. What kind of long-term support – financial, legal, or strategic – is needed from ministries?
6. How can short-term projects be transformed into lasting national platforms?

The meeting demonstrated that collaboration among research infrastructures and stakeholders is essential. Alongside technological innovations, communication and public outreach are key to showcasing the benefits of research and infrastructures working in the exposome and biobanking fields. By contributing to this dialogue, BBMRI.at underlined its role in building bridges between science, policy, and society.