BioBANC na Gaillimhe
"It takes a village to run a biobank"
Biobanks are the cornerstone of productive translational research - the nexus of patient, clinician, and researcher stories
Biobanking is increasingly recognised as a scientific discipline, rather than just a laboratory resource. Many clinicians and scientific researchers “dabble” in biobanking. However, with evolving ethical and data regulations, expensive laboratory technologies, and already heavy workloads, biobanking can be perceived as exclusive to those with protected research time.
Hosted by the BioBANC na Gaillimhe team at University of Galway, the annual BioBANC Symposium is a multidisciplinary event for anyone involved or interested in getting involved in biobanking - researchers, patients, doctors, nurses, administrators, technicians. It is a forum for discussing the challenges and opportunities in biobanking, ultimately making it an inclusive, patient-centered, and efficient research endeavour.
“Patients and members of the public who participate in research biobanks trust that their samples are used in high quality research. Only through working together, sharing our expertise and communicating with patients can we provide this high-quality resource for essential research. We need - and want - patients, clinicians, and researchers to be informed, supported, and valued for their role in biobanking
Behind every sample is a patient
Patients donate sample to biobanks knowing they will not directly benefit from the research but that their involvement, leads to new knowledge and advances in research into cancer, cardiovascular, infectious, metabolic, and other chronic diseases.
The value is in the information that comes with the samples. How we communicate with patients and healthy donors influence their informed consent to use their samples and clinical information. How we manage the information and donated specimens with respect to data protection and research ethics is vital to ensuring high-quality, reproducible research.
“Biobanks are tremendously important resources and demonstrate our patients’ generosity and trust in us. As a consultant pathologist the value of such specimens is readily apparent. Biobanks are crucial in our pursuit of better outcomes for our patients"
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