Resource Report

URL: http://www.medunigraz.at/en/biobank

Proper Citation: Biobank Graz (RRID:SCR_004245)

Description: Biobank Graz is a non-profit central Medical University of Graz (MUG) service facility that provides the logistics and infrastructure to optimally support MUG research teams in the collection, processing and storage of biological samples and their associated data. In the course of this, special attention is given to sample and data quality and to the protection of the individual rights of patients. Samples from selected patients at the Graz LKH-University Clinical Centre, who have signed an informed consent declaration, are deposited in Biobank Graz. This means that excess tissue and blood samples are collected and placed in storage. The samples are harvested in the course of routine interventions undertaken by the different departments and institutes of the Graz LKH-University Clinical Centre and approved for use in research projects only after the completion of all necessary laboratory and histopathological analyses. No additional material is removed: in other words, there are no associated drawbacks whatsoever for the patients involved. Biobank Graz operates a quality management system according to ISO 9001:2008 and offers the following services for the processing and storage of biological samples and the handling of data: * Consistently high sample quality through the processing of samples using standardized methods in accordance with written working instructions (SOPs) * Efficient use of resources through the building of shared infrastructure and the development of optimized processes * A high degree of reliability provided by the storage of samples in 24/7 - monitored storage systems. * Processing and storage of all data in accordance with data protection legislation. Biobank Graz comprises both population-based and disease-focused collections of biological materials. It currently contains approx. 3.8 mio samples from approx. 1.2 mio patients representing a nonselected patient group characteristic of central Europe. Because the Institute of Pathology was, until 2003, the exclusive pathology service provider for major parts of the province of Styria, including its capital Graz (population approx. 1.2 mio people), samples from all human diseases, treated by surgery or diagnosed by biopsy, are included in the collection at their natural frequency of occurrence and thus represent cancers and non-cancerous diseases from all organs, and from all age groups. The scientific value of the existing tissue collection is, thus, not only determined by its size and technical homogeneity (all samples have been processed in a single institute under constant conditions for more than 20 years), but also by its population-based character. These features provide ideal opportunities for epidemiological studies and allow the validation of biomarkers for the identification of specific diseases and determination of their response to treatment. Prospectively collected tissues, blood samples and clinical data comprise, on the one hand, randomly selected samples from all diseases and patient groups to provide sufficient numbers of samples for the evaluation of the disease-specificity of any gene or biomarker. On the other hand, Biobank Graz adopts a disease-focused approach for selected diseases (such as breast, colon and liver cancers as well as some metabolic diseases) through the collection of a range of different human biological samples of highest quality and detailed clinical follow-up data. Graz Medical University established the Biobank to provide improved and sustainable access to biological samples and related (clinical) data both for its own academic research and for external research projects of academic and industrial partners. It is a major interest of the university to initiate co-operative research projects. Biological samples and data are available to external institutions performing high-quality research projects which comply with the Biobank''s ethical and legal framework according to the access rules (Contact: COO Karine Sargsyan, MD, PhD).

Abbreviations: Biobank Graz

Resource Type: biomaterial supply resource, material resource

Keywords: tissue, blood, dna, rna, serum, plasma, bodily fluid, urine, cryopreserved, formalin fixed paraffin embedded, csf, frozen, disease, population, patient, healthy, normal, clinical, patient, healthy, normal, disease, cancer, metabolic disease, breast cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer, clinical data, cerebral spinal fluid