IBRN 3rd Forum
IBRN 3rd Forum planned for March 2023
We are delighted to share that the IBRN (International Blast Injury Research Network) are running their 3rd Forum on the 29th March, in Beirut, Lebanon. The event is taking place at the Kempinski Summerland Hotel & Resort and is being organised by CIRU and the American University of Beirut. The workshop will focus on the health consequences of the 2020 Beirut blast and mass-casualty explosive events, with the aim to generate new health research ideas and partnerships. The day will include presentations, interactive activities, and discussions on topics including blast injuries, treatments, health system responses, disaster responses, and long-term health consequences. In attendance will be over 50 experts from multiple disciplines to bring together both those involved and/or those who have undertaken research specifically on the impacts, responses, and aftermath of the 2020 Beirut Blast and other mass-casualty explosive events. Organisations represented on the day include members from the World Health Organization, Embrace Lebanon, Lebanese Red Cross, BBC World Service, AOAV, and more. CIRU Team members in attendance and involved in the planning of the day include Professor James Batchelor, Dr Jack Denny, and Dr Becky Brown.
We caught up with Becky, Research Fellow at CIRU and core member of the IBRN Team, before she set off to Beirut. Becky shared the following words with us:
“We are really excited to be hosting our 3rd IBRN workshop in Beirut next week. We are thrilled with the engagement we have received which has exceeded our expectations of the number of people willing to contribute their time to discuss these important issues. We are looking forward to getting people together in-person to cement long-standing relationships and build new partnerships and collaborations as well as providing a stimulating virtual environment for those joining online. We are looking forward to stimulating discussions from the wide range of participants – it’s going to be an exciting event!”
We are looking forward to catching up with the IBRN team when they are back from their trip!
About IBRN
The IBRN is a trans-disciplinary network launched by the University of Southampton in collaboration with the Blast Impact and Survivability Research Unit (BISRU) at the University of Cape Town. This initiative aims to facilitate ongoing research cooperation between the fields of engineering and medicine to address the humanitarian aspects of blast injury and protection research and to promote wider collaboration between academia, industry, defence, clinicians and humanitarian organisations.
The IBRN brings together expertise in blast engineering, public health, research investments analysis, and clinical informatics to undertake novel research-on-research to establish an evidence-base to ensure that future methodologies and investment reflects priority areas that best translate into improved health outcomes.
Dr Becky Brown supports this initiative working with Dr Jack Denny, Lecturer in Structures Department of Civil, Maritime & Environmental Engineering, Dr Michael von Bertele, CB, OBE, QHS, Non-Executive Director, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, and Professor Genevieve Langdon, University of Cape Town.
More information on the IBRN can be found on the IBRN website.