News Archive
October September August JulyOctober 2008
PROCURE launches prostate cancer biobank
October 28, 2008: The PROCURE Foundation and four Quebec teaching hospitals launch a biobank to collect tissue, blood, and urine samples from 2,000 prostate cancer patients.
Governor announces Wisconsin Genomics Initiative
October 13, 2008: A public-private partnership in Wisconsin will advance personalized medicine through genomic analyses of over 20,000 banked biospecimens housed at the Marshfield Clinic Biobank and through development of new industries and technology to support individualized care.
Rubicon’s GenomePlex technology selected to build Cancer Genome Atlas’ DNA libraries
October 13, 2008: Over 3,000 blood and tissue samples will be analyzed using GenomePlex; data will be shared with researchers via the International Genomics Consortium’s Biospecimen Research Core.
Stanford Center for Law & Biosciences Blogs the “Biobanking, Bioethics, and the Law” Conference
October 3, 2008: Members of the Center for Law & the Biosciences provide overview of conference sessions.
Interleukin Genetics collaborates with Geisinger Health System to study genetics of obesity
September 23, 2008: Geisinger and Interleukin will use Geisinger’s biobank and integrated health records to study the roles perilipin, interleukin 1, and other genes play in inherited resistance to weight loss or weight loss success.
NCI’s Translational Research Working Group proposes pathways for streamlined cancer therapy approvals
September 19, 2008: The six ‘Pathways to Clinical Goals’, including biospecimen-based assessment methods, are published in the September 15th issue of Clinical Cancer Research.
University of Karachi to establish first Pakistani biobank
September 18, 2008: Tissues will include human and animal specimens, as well as cell lines and bacterial cultures. Research on the bank’s collection will focus on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, especially for conditions prevalent in Pakistan.
Tampa’s St. Joseph Hospital and Moffitt Cancer Center work together to bank 100,000 tumor tissue samples
September 17, 2008: St. Joseph’s and Moffitt are collaborating on ‘Total Cancer Care’ (TCC), a project to take the molecular ‘fingerprint’ of donated tumor tissue.
Malaysian biobank recruiting 100,000 donors
September 13, 2008: The Malaysion Cohort (TMC) will seek blood and urine samples as well as detailed medical information from 100,000 Malaysians to support studies of correlations between genetics and environmental exposures and development of diseases like cancer, diabetes and hypertension.
Deputy Director of the Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research (OBBR) Testifies before Congress
September 9, 2008: Dr. Jim Vaught testifies on the necessity for federal adoption of best practices and policies for biospecimen storage and tracking.
Biobank collaborations needed for faster cures
September 3, 2008: FasterCures President Greg Simon was interviewed by Earth & Sky Radio about the importance of ‘biobank sharing’
Georgetown University Medical Center to compile cancer research biobank
August 29, 2008: Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center will collaborate with Indivumed to expand its pancreatic cancer tumor bank and database to include breast cancer and colon cancer.
Biobanks proliferate in Latin America, but regulation is needed
August 15, 2008: The LatinBanks project, a cooperative between the EU and several Central- and South American countries, has been established to study the legal and social implications of biobanks in Latin America.
LabCorp and Duke University to operate biobank in North Carolina Research Campus
August 13, 2008: Developers of the Kannapolis, NC, research campus believe a biobank resource will attract biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to the area.
New Zealand’s Cancer Society Tissue Bank reaches 4,000 samples
August 6, 2008: The bank holds samples of multiple kinds of cancer tissue and is the only bank of its kind in New Zealand.
Statens Serum Institut biobank supplies study of prenatal vitamin D levels and risk of schizophrenia
July 31, 2008: Blood spots taken from newborns since 1981 and stored at the SSI biobank will be used in a University of Queensland study on whether low levels of prenatal vitamin D are a risk factor for schizophrenia in adulthood.
