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FORINFRA-Nasj.sats. forskn.infrastrukt

A national infrastructure for biobanks and biobank related activity in Norway

Awarded: NOK 79.6 mill.

There has been an accelerating interest by researchers world wide in gaining access to Norwegian biobanks with their comprehensive samples and data collections. In parallel, Norwegian researchers have gained increased competence and impact in this field, acknowledging the necessity to collaborate across scientific borders. Insufficient infrastructure and technological solutions slow down this activity and represents a serious hindrance for better utilization. This calls for an immediate strengthening of a national infrastructure with large scale state-of-the-art biobanks and integrated working groups for population based and clinical biobanks, biomolecular resources, IT solutions/bioinformatics and ethical and legal issues. Since 2006, automated solutions for sample handling have been organized at the national CONOR biobank/HUNT biobank at NTNU. A similar biobank facility will be established at NIPH in Oslo. There is an urgent need for new investments in automated storage solutions at -80 to ensure high trough put and the best quality of the valuable biobank material already collected as well as from new collections. It is the ultimate goal to have at least t wo large scale, automated storage facilities nationally with a magnitude, the other being installed at the Mother and Child biobank at NIPH in Oslo, a wtin biobank infrastructure "Biobank Norway". Stimulated by participation in the EU-collaboration, BBMRI .EU similar infrastuctures with parallel work packages have also been organized in other Nordic countries. On a national level, Biobank Norway will strenghten the collabration between clinical and population based biobanks.

Funding scheme:

FORINFRA-Nasj.sats. forskn.infrastrukt

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