BCU Imaging Biobank (BCU-IB) is a non-profit biorepository aimed at the collection, storage and retrieval of diagnostic images, derived descriptors and clinical data. The main scope of BCU-IB is to foster scientific advances in imaging and analysis, opening up new ways for biomedical research to diagnose, treat and potentially prevent diseases. BCU-IB collects a vast amount of images of the human body, including healthy and pathological subjects. Diagnostic images, clinical, anamnestic and demographic data are made available to study the associations between imaging phenotypes, diagnostic and prognostic factors. Curated datasets are stored and organized in a secure and reliable dedicated information systems based on the Extensible Neuroimaging Archive Toolkit (XNAT), hosted by Bio Check Up Srl.
The Faroe Genome Project (FarGen) explores the genetic variation within the isolated population of the Faroe Islands. FarGen is an open bioresource comprising 3% of the entire Faroese population, available for further investigation of both rare and common diseases. The 1,541 volunteers include representatives from all sub-regions of the islands, and health- and socio-demographic data is collected by questionnaire, Multi-Generation Registry, Diagnostic-Registry, and National Registry. The FarGeninfrastructure is already open to research teams, and is being used in research of various complex disorders. Future aim is to reach 5000 samples i.e. 10% of the entire Faroese population.
Charlie Teo Foundation Brain Tumour Bank (CTFBTB) was started by Charlie Teo Foundation (CTF), an Australian charity funding brain cancer research. CTFBTB was established under the CTF’s research strategy of More Data – to produce and share high-quality, well-annotated, biological and clinical data that has the potential to drive further innovation and scientific breakthroughs. CTFBTB collects samples of human tissue, live cells, DNA and blood to be used for brain cancer research. CTFBTB also has a cell line repository of real-world brain tumours. Researchers can apply to use these valuable and accurate models that enable more refined analysis of the mechanisms that regulate individual patient response to treatment and allow for the further development of models for precision medicine.
Karubiotec™ is a mono-site Biological Resources Center (BRC) and the only human biobank of Guadeloupe. It is an infrastructure of the University Hospital of Guadeloupe, which governed it. Located inside the hospital it is equipped with a molecular biology platform that allows all the processes from reception to preparation, storage and transfer of biological resources and their associated clinical data. These data are either part of specific research projects or of the BRC’s own research programs. After studying requests, Karubiotec™ can provide samples from blood (serum, plasma, cells, DNA, RNA), secretions and tissues for most common diseases found in the Caribbean [1], in respect of ethics requirements according to the proposed use. Paraffin blocks and slides from pathology units are also collected for some cancer sites for research reuse.
The Hannover Unified Biobank (HUB) was established in 2012 as the central biobank of the Hannover Medical School (MHH) to provide an infrastructure for the standardised collection and storage of liquid biosamples and associated data in the context of research projects and clinical studies. For the comprehensive collection of tissue samples from the clinical routine the HUB cooperates with the MHH Institute of Pathology. All samples are connected with the associated clinical data stored in the ECRDW (Enterprise Clinical Research Data Warehouse) of the MHH. Headed by Prof. Dr. Thomas Illig the HUB developed into one of the biggest state of the art clinical biobanks in Germany and today stores about 2.88 Mio samples (mainly FFPE tissue and blood derived liquid samples) of a wide range of diseases.
The Centre de Ressources Biologiques-Tumorothèque ICO is a biobank integrated in a clinical cancer center (ICO, Institut de Cancérologie de l’Ouest, Saint-Herblain, FR) that collects tissues (snap frozen, FFPE, TMA) and biological (serum, plasma, DNA, RNA, stools, etc) samples from oncology patients and dedicated to translational research. The biobank started its activities in 2002 and is certified NF S 96 900. Activities are framed by a quality management system with established and validated SOPs for all work procedures. Samples stored into the biobank are available for both academic as well as commercial researchers, through a defined access procedure. Currently the bioresources consist in more than 99.500 samples with informed consent and associated clinical data.
The VetBiobank was established in 2007 as part of the VetCore Facility for Research at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna. The primary objectives of the VetBiobank are (1) to achieve comprehensive collections of high quality animal samples to support research projects and (2) to provide biological reference material as controls e.g. for method verification. Currently, collections mainly contain tumor tissues and healthy reference tissues from cats and dogs, but also a small number of biospecimens from other diseases and other species, including macaque, horse, pig, and small companion animals. A total number of around 58000 individual samples are stored. The VetBiobank is partner of BBMRI.at (the Biobanking and BioMolecular resource Research Infrastructure Austria [1]), the Austrian national node of the European research infrastructure BBMRI-ERIC [2], comprising the only member with a focus on veterinary medicine. Funding statement: The VetBiobank is part of the central research facility of the University of Veterinary Medicine, which takes over personnel and running costs. Additionally, the VetBiobank was and is currently supported by two grants from the federal ministry of Austria to BBMRI.at (BMWFM GZ: 10.470/0016-II/3/2013, BMBWF GZ: 10.470/0010-V/3c/2018).
CRYOSTEM was initiated in 2010 to create a multicenter biobank in the field of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT). After initially concentrating on Graft-versus-Host Disease, CRYOSTEM has broadened its focus to all HSCT complications. Thanks to a network of 33 transplant units and 23 Biological Resources Centers, CRYOSTEM has established a standardized collection of high-quality biological samples associated with well-annotated clinical data from donors and patients pre- and post-HSCT. Plasma, dried pellets and viable cells in DMSO are isolated and cryopreserved from blood samples. Currently, the collection has reached almost 200,000 available samples coming from nearly 5,800 patients. Since 2015, CRYOSTEM has provided the national and international scientific community with these samples for large-scale research to improve the knowledge of HSCT complications. Funding statement: CRYOSTEM has been funded by the French government’s “National Investment Program” (call for proposals “COHORTES”, agreement ANR-10-COHO-008) and has also received financial support from INCa (call for proposals “BCB”, agreement 2013-192) and patient associations.
The biobank of the Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Marseille (AP-HM) works as a multi-site biobank around one Quality Management System. The biobank works on the collection, preparation, storage and release of biological resources and their associated data. It receives tissue samples for neoplasms, DNA and cells for rare genetic diseases and blood samples for hematological and cardiovascular diseases. These samples are provided and classified by experts of different domains; the samples are under strict technical protocols with appropriate clinical data. This wide range of sample types, diseases and services allows collaborations with public or private laboratories to customize research projects or therapeutic trials. Funding statement: The AP-HM biobank is supported by the French government’s MIG grant, intended to cover part of its annual cost based on its annual activity, valorization of released samples and funds from the AP-HM.
The Biological Resource Center (BRC) for 'Toxoplasma gondii' is a certified structure (NF S96-900 standard) that manages the storage of 'Toxoplasma gondii' strains (protozoan parasite) and strain derivatives from human or animal toxoplasmosis to make them available to the scientific community.
Ethical Tissue (ET) is a Research Tissue Bank specialising in researcher led prospective collection of tissues. ET does not focus on specific conditions nor is it restricted in who it can supply. We consider requests for any type of tissue, including biofluids such as blood, serum, plasma and urine, from researchers in academia or industry from any part of the world. Tissues and biofluids are collected under generic and lasting consent, maximising reuse/sharing potential. ET also provides tissue processing services including tissue micro-arrays from both fresh frozen tissues and FFPE blocks, primary cell cultures, subcellular fractions and DNA/RNA preparations. A list of banked tissues, including biofluids, cell lines and processed samples is available on the ET website. Funding statement: The major source of income for Ethical Tissue is through cost recovery. In addition the authors would like to acknowledge the ongoing support of the University of Bradford.
The Integrated Research Biobank (IRB) at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IKCL) is the central biobank resource of the University Medicine Greifswald (UMG) for all biological materials collected within the framework of clinical and experimental studies carried out by internal and external researchers. The IRB is a core unit of the UMG and focuses on collection, processing and storage of mainly liquid biomaterials, e.g. blood, urine, saliva or swaps in established workflows and thereby securing highest quality standards. Aliquots are usually stored at –80°C in one of the two fully automated LiCONiC biorepositories or, if necessary, in one of the –80°C freezers. Up to now, the IRB stores more than 1.1 million liquid aliquots and the collection grows continuously. Currently, the storage capacity of the IRB is limited to 3 million aliquots. Funding statement: European Fond for Regional Development (EFRE) funded by the European Union (grant INZ-EFRE 1503). Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) is part of the Community Medicine Research net (CMR) of the University of Greifswald, Germany, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grants no. 01ZZ9603, 01ZZ0103 and 01ZZ0403), the Ministry of Cultural Affairs as well as the Social Ministry of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant 81Z7400173). German Biobank Alliance (GBA) funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant 01EY1705). National Cohort (NAKO) funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant 01ER1301/18).
The ICAReB platform of Institut Pasteur provides access to human bio-resources for academic and private research teams worldwide, essentially in the fields of infection, immunity and neurosciences. More than 134,000 human quality controlled, duly annotated samples (mainly whole-blood derived products, but also stool, urine, saliva, swabs….), from both healthy and diseased cohorts with open, regulated access, are available upon request. Both clinical investigation and biobanking activities are certified following ISO 9001:2015 and NF S96-900:2011 standards, respectively. ICAReB is a member of PIBnet (Pasteur International Biobanking network), BIOBANQUES and BBMRI, the French and pan-european biobanking networks, respectively. Funding statement: Funds come from IP (facilities and staff), and from various funding organisms or agencies (for specific projects): ANR (French National Research funding Agency): 'OH!Ticks' project (see https://www.ohticks.fr/ 2017–2020) AP/HP ('Assistance Publique/Hôpitaux de Paris'): 'MonaLisa' (Multicentric Observational National Analysis on Listeriosis and Listeria) and 'ListeriaGEN' projects, 2009–2022 and 2015–2024, respectively AVIESAN (French National alliance for Life Sciences and Health). Study of the innate immunity and the microbial flora during aplasia ('PAMPA' project, 2013–2016) Bioaster (French 'Investissements d’Avenir' funding, Infectiology and Microbiology platform, Lyon-Paris, 2010–2020) Biomérieux (Lyon, France; cardio-vascular biomarker, 2013–2015) FRM (Medical Research Foundation): 'Hidradenitis Suppurativa' project (2011–2015) IBiSA (Biology, Health and Agronomics infrastructure) selection of ICAReB platform in 2009 INCA (National Institute for Cancer research): 'INECOC' project, 2009–2011 TOTAL foundation ('Afribiota' project on Environmental Pediatric Enteropathy, 2016-2020) WHO (for The WHO 'Human African Trypanosomiasis specimen Bank', 2008–2018, 2019–). Since three years, public-private relationships were proposed and research collaborations accepted with industrial partners, for example the Lyon-Paris ‘Technological Research Institute’ ('BioAster') following a national 'Investissements d’Avenir' program launched in 2012.
The bioresource (>265 patients with >27,600 biospecimens until December 2019; recruitment ongoing) on severe aortic stenosis is of vital importance to improve the still incomplete understanding of its etiology as well as its transition to heart failure. The bioresource contains various biospecimens, standardised clinical and imaging data sets including transthoracic echocardiography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the heart. Biospecimen sampling follows the SOP-driven collection scheme of the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) for venous blood and urine [1]. In addition, left-ventricular endomyocardial biopsies, rectal swabs and skin biopsies (for subsequent generation of induced pluripotent stem cells) are collected. Data management includes the use of a professional biospecimen management system as well as a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) for imaging data. A Good Clinical Practice (GCP)-conform software for the management of clinical data and a trusted third party for the management of patient identifying data and pseudonyms are in place. Given these conditions, there is a high reuse-potential for biospecimens and data. Funding statement: Parts of the bioresource were financed by the German Research Foundation (DFG) within the Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 1002.
The Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Biobank is a repository for plasma, erythrocytes, serum, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), DNA, kidney core biopsies, and relevant clinical data. These materials are collected from CKD patients and healthy controls in Queensland, Australia. Plasma, erythrocytes, serum, urine, and PBMCs are collected annually; DNA and kidney core biopsies are one-off collections; and clinical data are updated annually. The CKD Biobank aims to provide domestic investigators associated with the CKD Centre of Research Excellence (CKD.QLD), and international investigators of CKD, with a resource to support future research to improve clinical outcomes of CKD patients. Funding statement: The National Health and Medical Research Council Centres of Research Excellence scheme and the University of Queensland’s Simple Procurement Plan currently fund the CKD Biobank.
Each year approximately 15,000 patients are diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) in the Netherlands, of whom 5–10% are associated with a hereditary syndrome. To enable future research into hereditary CRC, we established a collaborative biobank for hereditary CRC in all eight University Medical Centers (UMCs) in the Netherlands in 2009. This Biobank Hereditary CRC is part of the Parelsnoer Institute (PSI), which is funded by the Dutch Federation of UMCs and the Dutch Government. Besides the multicenter collaboration, the multidisciplinary nature of this biobank – involving Gastroenterology, Genetics and Surgery – is essential for its functionality and value. Patients at increased risk of hereditary CRC and/or Polyposis, or with a proven germline mutation causing CRC and/or Polyposis are included. Both clinical data (demographic data, details on medical and family history, information on surveillance, endoscopy and surgery, results of microsatellite instability and molecular genetic tests) and biomaterial (DNA, plasma, serum and tissue) are collected in a standardized manner.
The AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR) has four regional biorepositories (RBRs) in the United States and one in South Africa. The ACSR is funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (United States) to support investigators studying HIV/AIDS and HIV/AIDS-associated malignancies. The ACSR inventory includes more than 450,000 annotated HIV-positive biospecimens from over 10,000 individuals and 100,000 HIV-negative controls from approximately 4,250 individuals, reflecting the pre-highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and post-HAART era of the HIV epidemic, as well as selected geographic regions heavily impacted by this global pandemic. Funding statement: The U.S. NIH National Cancer Institute has funded the ACSR since 1994. The present award is UM1CA181255.
The Wales Cancer Bank (WCB) was established in 2004 and consents patients in Wales, UK with a known or suspected cancer diagnosis to donate biosamples for future research. The resource is open access to all researchers working in cancer research, regardless of geographic location or employment sector. To December 2017, just over 13,500 patients have donated samples across a variety of tumour types. Tumour and adjacent normal tissue and blood samples are routinely collected, stored and processed to standardised protocols. Bespoke collections for unique samples such as urine or ascites are also available. Pathology data, clinical data including treatment and outcome data and selected molecular data is also available. Funding statement: The WCB is currently funded as part of the Wales Cancer Research Centre by Health and Care Research Wales. Funding is also received from Velindre Charitable funds and Cancer Research UK’s Stratified Medicine Programme. Previous funding has also been received from Cancer Research Wales.
The Dutch Parelsnoer Institute-Cerebrovascular accident (CVA) Study is part of the Parelsnoer Institute (PSI), initiated in 2007 by the Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centers (NFU). PSI is a cooperation of all eight Dutch University Medical Centers (UMCs) and aims at building large prospectively collected datasets with uniformly and standardized storage of biomaterials for complex diseases. Currently, PSI covers 18 disease-specific cohorts called ‘Pearls’, and this number is still growing. One of these cohorts is the Stroke or CVA Pearl. For each of the cohorts, PSI offers the UMCs an infrastructure and standard procedures for storing the specific biomaterials in their certified biobanks. Clinical data are stored in a central database after being pseudonymized to ensure patient privacy. For the Parelsnoer Institute-CVA Study, blood for genetic analysis, serum and plasma are collected according to nationally agreed standards. Currently (November 2017) the Stroke Pearl has stored blood samples with prospectively obtained clinical data of around 6000 patients in all UMCs combined. Blood samples and data are available for all researchers with a methodologically valid research proposal. Funding statement: PSI was founded in 2007 with a five year grant from the Dutch Government. From 2011 until now PSI is funded and facilitated by the Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centers (NFU) and its member institutions, independent of external funds. Additional funds from governmental sources, industry sponsors and charity are used for the analysis on the existing data and the expansion of PSI with new diseases.
The Quebec Respiratory Health Network (RHN) Biobank is a multi-site infrastructure located in the province of Quebec (Canada) to collect, store, and supply high-quality human biological specimens for research on respiratory diseases. The sample types are diverse (plasma, serum, buffy coat, primary lung cells, lung parenchyma, bronchial biopsies, polyps, others), disease-oriented, and mirror research activities conducted at each site. The biobank currently manages approximately 57,000 specimens from 8,000 research participants or patients treated by standard of care. Specimens’ inventory and corresponding clinical data from all sites are denominalized and linked to a centralized database with retrieval and querying capabilities. Archival samples from recent to nearly 20-year collections are available to academic and industry researchers studying respiratory diseases. Funding statement: The infrastructure is supported by the Quebec Respiratory Health Network (rsr.chus.qc.ca) of the 'Fonds de la recherche du Québec – Santé' (FRQS), the research centers involved, local foundations and users of the biobank. Each biobank site is responsible to sustain their activities.
