In an interview, Dr. Cornelia Specht (Managing Director, GBN) discusses the findings from an online survey of “potential biobank users” – medical researchers who have not (yet) cooperated with a biobank – conducted at GBA sites in 2018 and 2019. The interview has been published on the blog of the UKCRC Tissue Directory and Coordination Centre (TDCC), the UK national node of the BBMRI-ERIC European biobank network based in London. It was conducted during the UK Biobanking Showcase 2019, which Dr. Specht attended as a speaker.

Survey: raise awareness for biobanks, create transparency

What is most likely to convince you to have samples for your research processed in a biobank, or to store your samples in or obtain samples from a biobank? Why did you decide against using a biobank’s services in the past? These were among the questions posed in the quantitative survey conducted by GBN and GBA of more than 330 staff at medical faculties. In an interview with the UKCRC Tissue Directory and Coordination Centre, Cornelia Specht reports that two key findings could be derived from the survey. On the one hand, the awareness of biobanks needs to be increased on the local level; on the other, the transparency of offers and services of the biobanks requires improvement.

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Read the full interview on the UKCRC TDCC website.