The biobank network at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf currently consists of four established biobanks with different clinical focuses. These include the biobank of the population-based Hamburg City Health Study (HCHS), the Hamburg Patient Information System Multiple Sclerosis Biobank (HAPIMS), the biosample resource of the University Cancer Centre Hamburg (UCCH biobank) and the biobank of the Clinical Cohort Studies (CCS) at the University Heart and Vascular Centre at the UKE. These biobanks significantly support clinical-translational research as well as basic research at the site.
The network includes a large number of different cohorts and has numerous high-quality liquid and solid biosamples that can be made available for various research projects in accordance with the relevant biobank regulations. For logistical reasons, the biosamples are processed decentrally in the various departments. Some of the valuable biosamples are already stored in the central storage facility at the UKE in large manual tanks and a semi-automatic storage system. Most of the biobanks operate their own decentralised storage facilities.
An internal "friendly" audit is used for quality assurance at the UKE biobanks. As part of the audit, the legal and ethical standards, responsibility regulations, process quality, technical requirements and the assurance of sample quality are reviewed. Some biobanks have already been validated by external audits, DZHK and industry.
The University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf offers the IT system OpenSpecimen (Krishagni) as a web application for the structured and data protection-compliant collection and storage of data on biosample collections in medical research. Following the current procurement process, the software will be integrated into the UKE's IT infrastructure and made available centrally for the local biobanks and biosample collections. Some of the established biobanks at the UKE have already been able to programme their own biomaterial databases, which enable them to document sample storage in a very flexible and easily adaptable way. The sample management database (PMD) was programmed specifically for this purpose.
Biobank lines
- HCHS and CCS biobanks: Prof. Dr Tanja Zeller
- UCCH biobank: Prof Dr Kai Rothkamm
- HAPIMS: Prof Dr Manuel Friese
Accreditation and certification
Certified, DIN EN ISO 9001:2015
