Theme Biobank and collections of Health RI launched a new project to develop a novel Dutch Biobank Standard

In February 2023 the theme Biobanks and Collections of Health-RI launched a new project entitled: “Dutch biobanking standard: towards harmonized, evidence-based collection, processing and storage of human biomaterials”.

This project comprises the development of a novel Dutch biobanking standard as a fully revised update of the Parelsnoer document that has been used in Dutch UMC’s for clinical biobanking since 2015. The project is led by a 3 member executive committee, that includes professor Dorine Swinkels from the Radboud Biobank.

Garbage in is garbage out. An important prerequisite for obtaining reliable results in biomedical research is the quality of the biomaterials. Low sample quality and variations therein can lead to undesirable post-analytic outcomes, potentially leading to incorrect conclusions and thereby, research waste. Therefore, collection, processing and storage (pre-analysis) of these materials needs to be evidence based to ensure fitness for its future purpose, and needs to be harmonized between biobanks and well documented.

The Parelsnoer standard is a solid guideline for the pre-analysis of biobanks. At the same time this standard needs a thorough revision that is more in line with the recent international developments on sustainability and research with stored biomaterials and as such better serves the needs of high quality and reproducible medical research in the Netherlands.

The project will run until 2026 and aims to develop and implement an evidence-based, fit-for-purpose biobanking standard for various biomaterials for health care research in the Netherlands. The project also aims to create awareness about the importance of pre-analytic standardization within the work field and to stimulate a collective responsibility for pre-analytics . Standards will be developed together with experts on current practice, using a pre-defined Delphi methodology based on scientific evidence for a wide range of human biomaterials commonly used in biomedical research. Implementation of the standards will be carried out with stakeholders representing professionals and users in health care and medical research. The implementation of this biobanking standard shall improve quality and interoperability of biomaterials used for health research innovation and decrease research waste.

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  Radboud biobank