Biopreservation and BiobankingVol. 21, No. 1 Open AccessCreative Commons licenseBrief Reports Prepared by Students and Graduates of Master of Science in BiobankingPublished Online:15 Feb 2023https://doi.org/10.1089/bio.2022.0064AboutSectionsView articleSupplemental MaterialPDF/EPUBView Supplemental Data Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail View articleIntroduction: Biopreservation and Biobanking—Short Communications of Graduates and Students of Master of Science in Biobanking in EuropeKarine SargsyaniInternational Biobanking and Education, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.I am inspired to introduce the readers of Biopreservation and Biobanking to a set of short communications describing several thesis projects conducted by the graduates and students of master of science in biobanking at the Medical University of Graz, Austria and French Master in Biobanks & Complex Data Management of Université Côte d'Azur in France (Table 1).Table 1. List of Thesis Projects Project title and authors1a“Universal DataBase for the Geneva pediatric onco-hematology biobank—BaHOP.” Denis Marino and Karine Sargsyan.2a“ISO 9001:2015 versus ISO 20387:2018: which makes the difference for a biobank?” Ichata Boina, Caroline Dos Santos Rocha Maia, Nicolas Ferry, Laurine Mathieu, Beheshta Paiman, Iram Riaz, Darya Ryzhenkova, Paul Hofman, and Nicole Arrighi.3a“A snapshot on the regulatory activity of the Human Tissue Authority in the United Kingdom research sector.” Jorgelina Trueba and Berthold Huppertz.4“Moving towards personalized medicine with oncological biobanks: University-based biobanking model of international multicenter cooperation.” Anna Michalska-Falkowska and Karine Sargsyan.5“Standardization in Biobanking: Guide to implement ISO 20387:2018 in biobanks certificated with ISO 9001:2015.” Michael Zúñiga and Karine Sargsyan.6“Benchmarking study of animal biobanks in Europe.” Mbayame Diop, Paolo Bonvicini, Samantha Luciano, Tommy-Lee Banlier, Youmna Chelbi, Paul Hofman and Nicole Arrighi.7“Environmental Sustainability in Biobanking.” Anita Litschauer and Berthold Huppertz.8“Raising the awareness of biobanking in the Swiss population through higher education.” Nesa Marti and Karine Sargsyan9“Implementation of electronic informed consent for cancer research.” Nina Bertheussen Krüger and Karine Sargsyan.aThese three concepts were chosen to be published in this print edition of Biopreservation and Biobanking. An additional six concepts have been published online as “22-0064.R1 6 online JV review” in Supplementary Data.As is widely recognized, global developments in the multidisciplinary field of biobanking are intimately linked with the increasing demand for highly specialized biobanking experts. To address these needs, education in such a dynamic area should be provided by professionals responsible for translating the knowledge and experience into applied biobanking.Exceptional opportunities for integrated and comprehensive studies in biobanking have been created at the Medical University of Graz in Austria (with a focus on the management aspects of biobanking) and the Université Côte d'Azur in France (with a focus on complex data usage in research).The lecturers are dedicated to transferring their knowledge and first‐hand experience with practical implementation and management of biobanks at these two internationally recognized institutions to educate the next generations of biobankers. Within the extensive range of courses already offered by the Medical University of Graz, Bologna Convention conforming, the international master of science in biobanking postgraduate course covers all aspects of this interdisciplinary field. During the two years of studies, participants gain knowledge and practical support regarding the formation and management of national and international biobanks, including quality management, risk assessment, sustainability, budgeting, and cooperation with academic and industrial partners.To make the course available to participants from the broadest range of countries around the world, all lecture exercises, online material, and interactive presentations are provided in English. Therefore, it is possible to actively attend the master's course and work full time in a desired part of the world. Multiple previously inaccessible opportunities await these master course graduates, after gaining broad knowledge and expertise in biobanking. This is evident from the many success stories of past graduates who describe promotions from technician to biobank manager or biobanking leader.Working with students of the MSc in biobanking is inspiring. Our graduates, now developing successful and sustainable biobanks, cooperating within networks and with international partners, represent the best confirmation of benefits that came with the education and practice.Supplementary MaterialSupplementary DataAddress correspondence to:Karine Sargsyan, MDInternational Biobanking and EducationMedical University of GrazGrazAustriaE‐mail:karine.sargsyan@medunigraz.atUniversal DataBase for the Geneva Pediatric Onco‐Hematology Biobank: BaHOPDenis Marino1,i and Karine Sargsyan2,3,i,ii1Research Platform for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Gynecology, and Obstetrics, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.2Department of International Biobanking and Education, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.3Department of Medical Genetics, Yerevan State Medical University, Yerevan, Armenia.Keywords: biobank information management systems, BIMS requirements, IT systems for research human biobank, biobank workflow analysisIntroductionBiobanks have gained importance for the development of sustainable research by generating high‐quality resources with clinical annotation of relevant biological samples.The importance of the implementation and use of an IT management system for biobanks is acknowledged worldwide. Biobanks that are still using spreadsheets, paper records, and handwritten identifiers on storage tubes will be at a great disadvantage. Moreover, an IT management system can increase the quality of the biological resources stored in the repository and so de facto can contribute to increasing quality of research results. This in turn can also contribute to the reduction of irreproducible preclinical research, which according to Freedman et al1 is responsible for >60% of the total causes of irreproducibility.Both the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories Best Practices and International Agency for Research on Cancer Common Minimum Technical Standards and Protocols for Biobanks Dedicated to Cancer Research2,3 dedicate special attention to the use of an effective biobank IT management solution that ensures effective tracking of biological resources during their entire lifecycle. Paskal et al and Bendou et al4,5 define the usage of an IT management system.The goal of this master's thesis concept is to analyze the type and frequency of deficiencies in biobanks seeking licensing from a national licensing body.MethodsBiobank workflow analysis and requirement identificationSeveral iterative cycles were performed for the analysis of the biobank workflow. A literature search on Biobank Information Management System (BIMS) implementation concepts and requirements was performed, followed by a further examination of selected publications6–11 and standards.2,3,12–17 Brainstorming techniques and unstructured interviews with biobank stakeholders were completed to categorize requirements related to laboratory activities.Selection process for the identification of suitable softwareThe identification of adapted commercially available IT solutions was made in collaboration with the national biobank network, the Swiss Biobanking Platform. A first assessment was performed analyzing the number of features, summarized by Swiss universities under their data life‐cycle management project.18In a second step, demonstration use cases were identified and provided to vendors. Previously identified requirements were used as a checklist to evaluate the performance and suitability. A selection of attributes and their ponderation scores was arbitrarily selected according to Geneva Pediatric biobank for research in onco‐hematology (BaHOP) specifications (Fig. 1).FIG. 1. IT systems selection process and evaluation. (a) Shows the steps performed for the selection of the IT system. (b) Shows the results achieved by the different IT systems evaluated.ResultsBiobank workflow analysis and requirement identificationThe workflow analysis enabled us to identify 13 main process categories and 123 requirements, which were grouped into 15 clusters and separated into 3 distinct categories: (1) functional requirements, (2) nonfunctional requirements, and (3) system operation.BIMS selection and implementation processWe observed a notable difference for some criteria, as well as unanimity in ratings for legal compliance, standards, and quality recommendations. All vendors had good to excellent performance in executing the previously released script based on sample management (Fig. 1).FIG. 1. Main pillars supported by ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 20387:2018 norms, highlighting the differences between the two standards and the contribution of the implementation of ISO 20387:2018 for biobanks.DiscussionNonprofit small size academic research biobanks are widely developed by scientists for the need of research, with limited IT project management knowledge. This study corroborates Prokosch et al's7 results demonstrating the complexity of selection and implementation processes of a biobank information management system. Likely, BaHOP is similar to most of the biobanks not having specific resources allocated to IT project development as highlighted by Müller et al,19 where a survey in France showed that 80% of biobanks do not have resources for IT project development.Furthermore, both authors underline that the selection of a dedicated BIMS is closely related to a series of critical attributes for which analysis results will diverge for every repository: (1) user license cost, (2) ability for purpose, (3) implementation period, and (4) constant support and maintenance. The selection of commercial systems has proven to be a required step toward quality and national process harmonization. We demonstrate and gave hints on how a small size research biobank can acquire an IT system by applying project management techniques.AcknowledgmentsWe thank the team of the CANSEARCH research platform in pediatric oncology and hematology of the University of Geneva (Mary Khoshbeen‐Boudal, Laurence Lesne, Yoann Sarmiento), the Onco‐Hematology Unit of the HUG (Marc Ansari, Tiago Nava, Veneranda Mattiello, Rodolfo Lo Piccolo, Fanny Muet), and the Swiss Biobanking Platform.Authors' ContributionsD.M. contributed to conceptualization, design, methodology, formal analysis, data curation, project administration, writing—all stages, and visualization. K.S. was involved in supervision, conceptualization, design, methodology, reviewing, and editing. All authors have approved the submitted version and have agreed both to be personally accountable for the author's own contributions and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the study, even those in which the author was not personally involved, are appropriately investigated, resolved, and the resolution documented in the literature.Ethics approval and consent to participateThe Geneva Cantonal Commission for Research Ethics has approved the BaHOP biobank (approval PB_2017‐00533)Author Disclosure StatementNo conflicting financial interests exist.Funding InformationThis study is supported by the CANSEARCH Foundation. Further funding comes from the Swiss National Science Foundation (31BL30_185396). The funding bodies have no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing this article.