Due to the importance of specialised education in the emerging field of biobanking, Biobank Graz has developed a distance-learning course (Master in Biobanking) to ensure proper handling of high quality samples and data in next generation biobanks.

The number of human biobanks has extensively grown during the last decade, while the respective use of such samples and data is still in its infancy. Trust in the ever growing number of samples and data available in biobanks needs to be built and assured. One way to improve management of biobanks – and thus reliably handle samples and data – is the presence of highly qualified personnel running certified biobanks. Hence, there is the need for courses and training efforts to educate adequate numbers of highly qualified women and men in all aspects within the field of biobanking.

Today, the awareness of scientists to take into account the quality of samples prior to analysis has finally started to increase. The best high-end technologies for analysis can only deliver results as good as the quality of the sample used for analysis. Although awareness is increasing, this pre-analytical workflow is still mainly ignored leading to published scientific reports that cannot be reproduced due to the bad quality of samples in the first publication. This has become obvious when looking at the number of retractions of scientific publications in the biomedical field of research: the retraction rate has increased fivefold during the last decade with more than 10% being due to irreproducible results. Of course, there is a large number of publications with irreproducible results that are based on low quality samples and data and that have not been withdrawn. This development needs to be counteracted by a much deeper understanding of the pre-analytical workflow making scientists aware that the quality of their data is only as good as the sample that has been used for analysis (garbage in – garbage out!).

A deeper understanding of the pre-analytical workflow is fundamental not only for scientists but especially for those setting up or running a biobank. The upcoming new ISO standards for biobanks further push development of biobanking towards better education of biobanking personnel. Hence, it is of crucial importance to offer postgraduate training programmes to educate next generation experts in the field of biobanking.

Biobank Graz at the Medical University of Graz in Austria has developed such a postgraduate course that will start in October 2016. This course has been developed as a two-year distance-learning course to enable anyone in the world taking part in this course without the need to stay in Austria for a longer time period. The course finalises with a Master thesis and a degree as a Master in Biobanking.

The Master course in Biobanking at Biobank Graz is organised in modules including topics such as: 1) organisation of a biobank; 2) implementation of a biobank in the healthcare system and in existing research infrastructures; 3) representation of a biobank and networking in the national and international area; 4) sample management including pre-analytic handling, logistics, storage and shipment; 5) quality management; 6) ELSI (ethical, legal and societal issues of biobanking); 7) biobanking IT-landscapes and IT requirements of a biobank; 8) biobank budgeting, business planning and sustainability; 9) risk management of a biobank; and 10) management and communication.

Importantly, this course will not force people to stay in Austria for the whole duration. At the same time, hands-on training is essential and requires on-site workshops for a week or two in each semester (twice a year). This reduces the necessity for students to stay abroad for longer time periods.

As an additional feature, Biobank Graz offers the specific modules also as standalone courses for advanced training and further education. Specific needs in academic or industrial biobanks and research sites may require a specific training in one or more of the modules listed above. Booking of specific modules is possible to allow this kind of training without reaching a full master’s degree.

The need to provide knowledge and practical knowhow on organisation, management, infrastructure and emerging challenges in biobanking and the pre-analytical workflow has been identified resulting in postgraduate courses such as the master’s in Biobanking at Biobank Graz. Hence, in a few years a new generation of highly skilled and trained people can easily deal with the requirements on quality of biobank samples and data. These requirements will definitively increase due to the growing spectrum of new analytical technologies. This new generation of biobankers will further develop biobanking processes to keep quality of biobank resources abreast with new methods for bio-analytics.

This development will not only set scientific publications on a higher quality level, it should also enable a much faster development of new therapies and diagnostic tools due to reduced variations in sample and data quality. Biobank Graz will play its role in this process.

Professor Berthold Huppertz, PhD
Director and CEO
Biobank Graz
Medical University of Graz
Neue Stiftingtalstraße 2B/II
8010 Graz, Austria
+43 316 385-72716
biobank@medunigraz.at
www.medunigraz.at/biobank

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