Team members of the HUB in action. © Karin Kaiser, MHH

Accreditation of the Hannover Unified Biobank (HUB)

The Hannover Unified Biobank (HUB) has achieved accreditation according to the standard DIN EN ISO 20387:2020 "Biotechnology – Biobanking – General requirements for biobanks", which was developed specifically for biobanks. The HUB is the first biobank in Germany that also stores liquid human biospecimens to be accredited according to DIN EN ISO 20387:2020. Prof. Dr. Thomas Illig, head of the HUB, emphasises: "The accreditation is a clear sign of our commitment to excellent quality and continuous optimisation. Our samples and data are a reliable basis for researchers." The standard has been available in Germany since 2020.

Around two million samples in stock

The HUB is the central biobank of the Hannover Medical School (MHH) and has been a partner biobank of the German Biobank Alliance (GBA) since 2017. Its director, Thomas Illig, is also a member of the steering committee of the German Biobank Node (GBN). In addition to its own collections, the HUB stores a large number of samples from the institutes and clinics of the MHH. These currently amount to almost two million biosamples and associated data from clinical routine, research and clinical trials.

The path to accreditation

Prior to the actual assessment by the German Accreditation Body (DAkkS), HUB underwent an intensive preparation process. This included a comprehensive review of processes and documentation to ensure that all the requirements of DIN EN ISO 20387:2020 were met. Inga Bernemann, Quality Manager at HUB, comments: "GBN's support and friendly audits were crucial in optimising our processes and successfully preparing us for accreditation." The DAkkS accreditation programme itself was also developed in close cooperation with GBN.

Further biobanks are preparing

GBN's managing director Dr. Cornelia Specht and board member PD Dr. Dr. Michael Kiehntopf congratulate the HUB on its success: "We congratulate the entire team on this outstanding achievement. We are delighted that the HUB has achieved accreditation and that the GBN quality programme has contributed to this." After the NCT Tissue Bank, the biobank of the National Center for Tumor Diseases in Heidelberg, the HUB is the second biobank in Germany to be accredited according to DIN EN ISO 20387:2020. Other GBA biobanks are preparing for accreditation – actively supported by GBA auditors and optimally prepared by the other components of the GBN quality programme.

Further information and links:

Questions?

germanbiobanknode@charite.de

Tel. +49. 30. 450 536 347

Fax +49. 30. 450 753 69 38

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