Biobank OWL is a cross-institutional liquid and tissue research biobank that creates synergies and pools biosamples, associated data and biobank expertise.
It is part of the translational research unit of OWL University Medicine and is being set up by the OWL Faculty of Medicine at Bielefeld University in close cooperation with the OWL University Hospital (Bethel Protestant Hospital, Bielefeld Hospital and Lippe Hospital).
The aim of the biobank is to provide well-characterised, high-quality biosamples and associated data for patient-oriented clinical research. The link to clinical data from routine care and other associated data is taken into account in the design from the outset.
The Biobank OWL has two locations that enable reciprocal back-up storage:
- Location on the campus of Bielefeld University
- Location at the Lippe Clinical Centre
In addition to the storage of biosamples with automated and manual freezers, the biobank has a laboratory infrastructure for sample processing and, at the Lippe site, a close connection to laboratory medicine.
The microbiome is a research focus at Bielefeld University. Accordingly, the biobank establishes methods for nucleic acid isolation from a wide range of sample types, such as soil, dust and swabs, and works closely with the university's OMICs core facility.
Together with the Hannover Unified Biobank, Biobank OWL is responsible for the biosample hub in the Network University Medicine (NUM). Since July 2025, the Biosample Hub has been part of the new NUM Reseach Infrastructure "NUM Method and Biosample Hub" (NUM-MB).
