Estonian Biobank’s MyGenome participant portal wins top honours at the Precision Medicine Awards 2025
The MyGenome participant portal of the Estonian Biobank has been named the winner in the Innovation and Collaboration category at the Precision Medicine Awards 2025.
This international award recognises initiatives that advance precision medicine and bring together science, healthcare, and public engagement. The jury included leading experts and senior executives from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including representatives from Pfizer, Roche, AstraZeneca, Illumina, and Novartis.
’As the judges for the Precision Medicine Awards noted, the Estonian Biobank’s participant-centred MyGenome Portal demonstrates high ethical standards and a forward-looking approach to using genetic data. It’s a pioneering example of how citizen engagement in genomics can create real value for participants,” commented Hayley Simpson, Business Unit Director of Precision Medicine at Oxford Global and organiser of the awards. The Precision Medicine Awards recognise those transforming healthcare and we are proud to highlight the impact of the Estonian Biobank team”
Data from the Estonian Biobank is used to conduct cutting-edge research to better understand the factors that influence human health — including genetics, the microbiome, the effects of medicines, the environment, lifestyle, and their interactions.
Launched last summer, the MyGenome participant portal allows biobank participants to explore science-based personal information in five areas: predisposition to type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease, genetic compatibility with certain medicines, caffeine metabolism rate, and genetic ancestry. To date, more than 108,000 biobank participants have explored their data via the portal.
“Naturally, this kind of recognition brings great joy and belongs to all biobank participants, researchers, doctors, lawyers, analysts, developers, civil servants, and everyone else who has helped build the Estonian Biobank,” said Lili Milani, Professor of Pharmacogenomics and Head of the Estonian Biobank at the University of Tartu. “The MyGenome participant portal has attracted international interest because we have been able to provide all our biobank participants with science-based personal genetic information — something national biobanks elsewhere have not yet achieved. Of course, we aim to continue developing the portal and make the research findings and discoveries based on the biobank even more visible to participants.”
