#EBW25 Previews: 3B: Biobanks in Big Data Research and AI
AI promises integrated solutions to analysing images (e.g. whole slide and/or radiology images), multi-omics data, and clinical information but also faces challenges such as the increasing complexity of managing and integrating data from different sources and the need to efficiently use machine learning-based algorithms to process and understand big data. This session will discuss challenges and showcase AI’s potential impact and include a state-of-the-art speech from Prof. Dr. Peter Hufnagl, Charité.
This session will be chaired by:
Dipl.-Ing. Roland Leiminger
Dipl.-Ing. Roland Leiminger is a trained instrumental analyst, biotechnologist, and process engineer. At the Fraunhofer Institute IPA in Stuttgart, he developed a new process for purifying electrochemical pollutants in drinking water and completed his thesis at TFH Berlin. He later transitioned into clinical medical diagnostics, where he led technology transfers and implemented new diagnostic solutions in infectiology, first-trimester screening, and other applications. His work included sample and study generation as well as networking within sepsis research communities.
In addition to his scientific expertise, he earned qualifications in Quality Management (QM), Quality Assurance (QB), and Quality Auditing. Expanding into new fields, he deepened his knowledge in metabolomic diagnostics, specialising in GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS technologies.
Since 2017, he has been responsible for NMR-based clinical applications across the EIMEA region. In 2018, he was appointed Director of Key Account Clinical, focusing on the development and implementation of NMR IVDr solutions in personalised medicine, clinical diagnostics, biobanking, cancer research, and rare diseases.
In 2025, he became the CEO of ThreeWaves Consulting. He also serves as President of the European, Middle Eastern, and African Society for Biobanking and Biopreservation (ESBB) and is Co-Chair of the ESBB Working Group on Automation & Interfaces.
Dr. Heimo Müller
Dr. Heimo Müller studied Mathematics in Graz and Vienna, completing his doctorate at the University of Technology in Vienna with a thesis on data space semantics. Currently, he serves as an IT Senior Scientist at BBMRI-ERIC, where he oversees activities related to AI and digital pathology. Dr. Müller’s scientific work is dedicated to FAIR data management, human-AI interfaces, AI explainability, data curation, and large language models (LLMs), addressing both computer science and societal and ethical challenges.
His professional journey includes roles at Joanneum Research in Graz, within the Institute of Information Systems and the Institute for Digital Image Processing and Computer Graphics. He was a Marie Curie Fellow at the Department of Word and Image Studies at the Free University of Amsterdam and served as Head of the Information Design degree programme at the University of Applied Sciences Joanneum in Graz.
Dr. Müller is also affiliated with the Medical University of Graz, where he focuses on the preparation and analysis of data generated during scientific and diagnostic processes, particularly in pathology. This includes developing tools to process data according to FAIR principles, analysing and enhancing explainability and human-AI interfaces, and digitising archival biobank samples.
Session details
- Date: Wednesday 14 May
- Time: 14:00-15:30