The German Biobank Alliance (GBA) met on 4 and 5 December in Bonn. 54 participants took the opportunity to discuss key issues and developments in biobanking. "Our meetings are an important platform for the exchange of ideas and the development of common strategies – also across national borders", said PD Dr. Dr. Michael Kiehntopf, member of the board of the German Biobank Node (GBN).
BioBank Bonn and DZNE Biorepository: Local strengths
Dr. Sarah Eickhoff, Scientific Director of the BioBank Bonn at the University Hospital, welcomed the GBA community to Bonn: "The GBA meetings are ideal for sharing experiences and networking." BioBank Bonn, a GBA partner biobank since 2020, presented itself as an integral part of university medicine. "Large research consortia are based on liquid and tissue biobanking at our location," said Prof. Dr. Bernd Weber, Dean of the Medical Faculty in Bonn. Innovative solutions for the safe long-term storage of human biosamples were presented by the newly established biorepository of the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). "You have to build a building for a system, not the other way round," said coordinator Andreas Nessel.
Promoting clinical (multicentre) trials
Dr. Christine Fuhrmann, CEO of the KKS network, reported that the Bonn study centre is a mainstay of the local research landscape. According to Fuhrmann, accreditation according to DIN EN ISO 20387 could play an important role for biobanks in the future, especially for industry studies. Another key topic was the harmonisation of ethics in multicentre studies. Prof. Dr. Roland Jahns, board member of the Working Group of Medical Ethics Committees (AKEK), explained how a central assessment by an ethics committee and the standardisation of application documents could significantly facilitate studies in the future.
European networking: Quality and One Health
Nhutuyen Nguyen, GBN Coordinator for Quality Management, presented the 'Quality Label' of the European biobank network BBMRI-ERIC, which was recently awarded to the Hannover Unified Biobank (HUB) as the first German biobank. The label is awarded to biobanks that work according to international standards such as ISO 20387 and pass an audit by BBMRI-ERIC or other authorised auditors – the audit at the HUB was carried out by GBA auditors. "The label is intended as a precursor to accreditation," explained Nguyen. It is particularly interesting for biobanks that are not yet seeking accreditation, but want to demonstrate their quality.
Zohaib Hassan, GBN IT Coordinator, presented the BBMRI-ERIC Roadmap for 2025-2035 and Work Programme. BBMRI-ERIC is guided by the 'One Health' approach and formulates strategic goals such as linking research in human, veterinary and environmental health, datafication and sustainable biobanking solutions. GBN will play a leading role in the work programme, which will be published in early 2025.
Biodiversity and sustainable biobanking
Dr. Jonas Astrin from the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change also addressed the One Health approach. He emphasised the synergies that human and biodiversity biobanking can create in research on zoonoses and environmental diseases. Dr. Peggy Manders from BBMRI.nl – the GBN's Dutch counterpart – presented a concept for regularly reviewing the scientific relevance of sample collections and avoiding unnecessary long-term storage.
IT: Making existing samples more visible
How can biosamples be made more visible to increase their use in research? Patrick Skowronek, from the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, explained this using the example of the COVID-19 biosamples from the National Pandemic Cohort Network (NAPKON). The 609,000 samples that were collected between 2020 and 2024 can already be found in the BBMRI-ERIC Directory and will also appear in the BBMRI-ERIC Locator as a multi-site collection.
Outlook
Dr. Gabriele Anton, member of the GBN Executive Board, drew a positive conclusion: "The meeting in Bonn impressively demonstrated the importance of exchange within the GBA. Issues such as quality, IT networking and sustainability will determine the future of biobanking. Only by working together can we develop solutions that will make research more efficient and biomedical innovation faster." The next GBA meeting will take place in Jena, Germany, on 9-10 April 2025.
Further information and links:
- BioBank Bonn
- A single ethics vote for multicentre trials
- Quality Labels for GBA biobanks
- BBMRI-ERIC presents „10-year Roadmap“
- Directory