Duke Biobank enhancements include index of biospecimens

Sally Kornbluth, PhD, vice dean for basic science, and Michael Kastan, MD, PhD, executive director of the Duke Cancer Institute, sent the following announcement to School of Medicine faculty today. In the spirit of fostering collaboration, and furthering translational research, we are pleased to announce that the Duke Biobank, under the auspices of the SOM, DTMI and DCI, will soon provide two new services to the Duke Community in the area of biobanking:

The Index of Biospecimens is a simple website and database in which investigators can browse existing biospecimen collections at Duke that may be available for sharing or for collaboration. It is a way to make connections at Duke between investigators in need of human biospecimens for research and investigators who have biospecimen collections that may be available for collaboration. This database has only recently launched, but going forward, all of Duke's researchers will be encouraged to register their biospecimen collections. Investigators will retain complete control over the use of their collections, with sole authority for engaging in collaborations using their biospecimens. The index can be accessed at http://biobank.duke.edu/index-biospecimens by any Duke researcher with a valid NetID. If you have a biospecimen collection you would like to enter into the index for possible collaboration, or have any questions about the Index, please contact the Duke Biobank at biospecimen-expediter@duke.edu. The Biospecimen Repository and Processing Core is a shared resource supported by the SOM and the DCI for prospective tissue collections. It is based in the Department of Pathology, led by Dr. Michael Datto, and will focus initially on cancer tissue banking but eventually extend to non-cancer tissue banking. This core will function under an excess tissue IRB protocol, focusing on the banking of excess specimens from consented patients following surgery or biopsy. The goal is for the BRPC to be the central biobanking resource at Duke.