The Biobank of the Medical University of Bialystok (Biobank MUB) is a separate unit within the structures of the University. It specialises in the collection and long-term storage of human biological material, and all processes take place in accordance with strictly defined procedures and the implemented Quality Assurance and Management System (QMS) compliant with ISO 9001: 2015 and the highest quality standards according to international guidelines. The Biobank MUB collects various types of biological samples, such as blood, tissues, cells and body fluids.
They come from patients voluntarily donating their samples for research purposes. Sampling and data collection is carried out in accordance with the highest ethical standards and respects the privacy and confidentiality of patient data. The collected samples are stored in controlled conditions, ensuring their durability and quality, and minimising the impact of pre-analytical variables on the final test result.
The Oncology Collection, which was established in 2016 for the purposes of the implementation of the MOBIT project co-financed by the National Center for Research and Development, is of key importance to Biobank MUB. As part of the Biobank MUB Oncology Collection, biological material and data from oncological patients with lung, stomach, large intestine, pancreas, ovarian, cervical, endometrial and brain cancers are collected and secured. So far, biological material from nearly 2,500 patients with various types of cancer has been collected. The unique and highest-quality material collected as part of the Oncology Collection gives an opportunity to conduct research that contributes to the development of medical science in the field of oncology (including personalised medicine).
Apart from the recently opened specialised and modern Central Laboratory, the Biobank MUB is also equipped with the HAMILTON BiOS L5 automatic biobanking system. The fully automated system can hold nearly 2.5 million samples (equivalent to the space provided by more than 40 traditional low-temperature freezers), which are arranged in racks by an ultra-modern robot. The entire biobanking device is a modular structure that can be expanded with further storage elements.
It enables you to minimise human error, while ensuring the maximum level of security and the highest quality.
Biobank MUB is a scientific partner of Indivumed Services, a world leader in the field of oncological biobanking based in Hamburg. Thanks to this, by applying the Indivumed standards, Biobank MUB has become a full member of the international network of specialist biobanks, and the samples collected in Białystok can be used for high-throughput scientific research requiring the highest quality material.
Biological material collected within the Biobank includes, among others: samples of freshly frozen FF tissue (fresh frozen), FFPE paraffin cubes, whole blood, serum, plasma such as wresenate plasma (PPT), plasma for incretin hormones (P800), citrate plasma as well as faecal samples, urine supernatant, sodium azide urine supernatant and urine sediment, other samples include induced saliva, RNA cell lysates and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).
All the main stages in the biobanking process listed below are carried out in accordance with strictly defined procedures. Starting with the interview with the patient preceded by obtaining the required Consent of the Patient, collection and transport of biological material, through its preparation, storage and release for further analysis. In addition to fractionation of biological material or taking a tissue sample, the biobanking process also involves stages such as: archiving data in the LIMS system with an emphasis on identifying each sample and data related to it, as well as securing the temperature in appropriate parameter conditions (-80° C, -150°C, liquid nitrogen vapour).
Biobank MUB is a member of the Polish Biobank Network and a consortium member of the Polish Node of the European Biobank Network BBMRI-ERIC. In addition, specialists from Biobank MUB shape national legal regulations in the field of the Biobanking Act being created through active participation in a group of experts appointed by the Minister of Education and Science.
The activity of Biobank MUB plays a key role in the development of medicine of the future. By providing the highest quality biological material and data, our work contributes to the progress in the field of medical research, a better understanding of disease mechanisms, the identification of new biomarkers and the development of innovative methods of diagnosis and treatment. Long-term collections kept in the Biobank MUB open up unlimited possibilities for the development of personalised and precise medicine, the development of new therapies and adapting them to the needs of an individual patient.
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
In the course of the MOBIT project, cooperation was carried out with the Wielkopolska Center of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery in Poznań, the Department and Clinic of Oncology of the Medical University of Karol Marcinkowski in Poznań and the Clinical Department of Oncological Gynecology of the Provincial Specialist Hospital in Olsztyn.
Collaboration is also carried out in Scientific Research Projects:
- Białystok PLUS Population Study: a unique project on nationwide scale, in which the health status of the inhabitants of Białystok is assessed and the impact of various factors on the development of chronic diseases is examined using a whole panel of specialist tests and modern technologies; in its course, a wide spectrum of various samples of biological material is collected
The Clinical Research Centre of the Medical University of Bialystok has several Projects, and the biorepository is currently the most representative in terms of the diversity of liquid biological material used for evaluation in molecular research in the search for genetic variants of metabolic diseases and in large-scale omics research. Biological material is secured from patients with metabolic diseases, primarily diabetes and obesity, and also from a group of people predisposed to their occurrence
- Intercollegiate cooperation between MUB Units, the University Clinical Hospital and Children's University Clinical Hospital in Bialystok (8 Projects), in which the collected biological material comes from patients with oncological, haematological diseases, allergic and metabolic diseases
- Cooperation with the Children's Health Center in Warsaw – a collection of biobanked samples from patients with rare congenital diseases
-International cooperation involves implementating research projects with the National Cancer Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health based in the USA, Pangea Biomed from Israel and the aforementioned Indivumed company from Germany. In addition, the employees of the Biobank MUB are in close cooperation with one of the largest Biobanks in the world, located at the Medical University of Graz in Austria.
The Biobank team secures samples that meet the requirements of high-throughput omics testing.
Collection from External Scientific Projects in numbers:
- 12 Scientific Projects currently implemented in the Biobank
- 8,380 biobanked patients
- 347 600 samples of liquid material
- 17 300 PBMC samples
- 11 100 samples with RNA cells
- approx.1500 - daily number of biobanked samples.
Oncology Collection in numbers:
- 2 360 biobanked patients
- 46 000 samples of liquid material
- 10 000 fresh-frozen FF tissues
- 7815 FFPE paraffin cubes.
CONTACT:
address: Waszyngtona 13, 15-269 Białystok
building: Collegium Pathologicum
e-mail: biobank@umb.edu.pl
anna.michalska-falkowska@umb.edu.pl
tel.: +48 85 748-59-45
tel.: +48 85 748-59-94
Our team of experts:
Head: dr hab. Joanna RESZEĆ-GIEŁAŻYN
dr Anna MICHALSKA-FALKOWSKA
mgr inż. Łukasz HRYNIEWSKI
dr hab. Zofia DZIĘCIOŁ-ANIKIEJ
dr Piotr KARABOWICZ
dr Michalina KRYSZCZUK
dr Patrycja MILEWSKA
mgr Magdalena BAZAREWSKA
mgr Izabela BRZEZIŃSKA
mgr Kamila IWANOWICZ-SOKÓLSKA
mgr Klaudia JANKOWSKA
mgr Dorota JUCHNIEWICZ
mgr Monika MAŁECZEK
mgr Olga MIKIEWICZ
mgr Monika NIEŚCIOR
mgr Katarzyna PISZCZATOWSKA
mgr Emilia PŁOŃSKA
mgr Julia REDLIŃSKA
mgr Teresa SIWICKA
mgr Emilia STOCZKO
mgr Magdalena SZYMAŃSKA
mgr Katarzyna SZYMULEWSKA-KONOPKO
mgr Agnieszka TARASIK
mgr Łukasz WOŁOSIK
mgr Monika ŻUCHOWSKA
mgr inż. Aleksandra BIELAWSKA
mgr inż. Wioleta BORYS
mgr inż. Aleksandra ZINIEWICZ
inż. Gabriela KOWNACKA
