In June 2024 the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit welcomed 200 participants to Bristol and 60 participants online to our 6th Mendelian randomization conference, making this our biggest conference to date. A key innovation this year was a Hub in the MRC Unit in Uganda, where delegates gathered in a video-linked room to participate in the conference, also with networking and catering on-site.
Sustainability was a key theme, and we set a target to reduce the carbon footprint by 50% mainly through converting to a hybrid conference with a virtual Hub, and booking vegetarian/vegan catering. The total estimated tonnes CO2 (tCO2) for the conference (mostly due to travel) was 143.25 tCO2. The Hub and virtual attendance avoided 147.5 tCO2 (see table). (more…)