BRoTHER Summer School
Looking back on the 3rd BRoTHER Summer School
The 3rd BRoTHER Summer School took place in Regensburg on September 19 and 20, 2022. For a third time the two-day event, , brought together students, biobank staff, biobanking experts and industry representatives to share knowledge . This year, the summer school was organized as a joint meeting together with the Europe Biobank Week 2022 Roadshow. Representatives of the member biobanks of the BRoTHER consortium from Brno, Pilsen and Munich were of course also guests in Regensburg. The Europe Biobank Week 2022 Roadshow informed the international participants about different aspects of quality in all biobanking processes. Participation in the conference formed the theoretical part of the BRoTHER Summer School. The conference was organized by the Central Biobank Regensburg (ZBR) of the University and the University Clinic Regensburg, the ESBB (European, Middle Eastern & African Society for Biopreservation and Biobanking) and BBMRI-ERIC (European research infrastructure for biobanking). Following the conference, workshops organized by the ZBR provided participants with practical insights and impulses on current biobanking topics. These hands-on trainings formed the practical part of the BRoTHER Summer School.
Europe Biobank Week 2022 Roadshow in Regensburg
With the main theme "On the Road to High Quality - With Biobanks in the Fast Lane!", the conference specifically focused on quality management in biobanking. During the theoretical part of the Summer School, participants were able to meet leading representatives of the European and international biobanking scene at the EBW Roadshow. With her keynote on "Biobanks for Precision Medicine in an Era of Evolving Technology: Specimens, Standards, and Signatures," Carolyn Compton, M.D., PhD. of Arizona State University, very clearly and energetically highlighted how important high-quality specimen storage is for precision medicine, for patient care and research. The panel sessions of the conference revolved around the goal of biobank accreditation. Representatives of already accredited biobanks described to the biobank community how they overcame the difficulties on the way to accreditation. In another session, various options were highlighted as to what qualitatively good means, ways, and aids exist in the process leading up to successful accreditation. Quality also plays an important role in relation to samples and data. In the session "Data Quality - More Than a Trailer" it was made clear that the introduction of standards increases data quality, ensures interoperability, and thereby enables broad collaboration. Likewise, quality is of great importance at the level of international collaboration, because the implementation of innovative projects and collaboration across national borders can only be ensured by sufficient quality of samples and data.
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Impressions from the Europe Biobank Week 2022 Roadshow.
Top left and right: Keynote address by Carolyn Compton, M.D., Ph.D., on the topic of "Biobanks for Precision Medicine in an Era of Evolving Technology: Specimens, Standards, and Signatures."
Bottom left: Get together of attendees in the Audimax foyer with networking opportunities.
Bottom right: The organizing team of the Europe Biobank Week 2022 Roadshow. From left to right: Prof. Dr. Dr. Jens Habermann (BBMRI-ERIC), Dr. Maike Tauchert (BBMRI-ERIC), Dr. Tanja Niedermair (ZBR, ESBB), Andrea Wutte, M.Sc. (BBMRI-ERIC), Prof. Dr. Christoph Brochhausen-Delius (ZBR, ESBB), Dr. Dominik Lermen (ESBB), Dr. Ronny Baber (ESBB), Dr. Agnieszka Matera-Witkiewicz (ESBB)
3. BRoTHER Summer School - Hands-on Trainings
On the second afternoon of the conference, the Summer School moved on to the practical part. Industry partners, academic cooperation partners and the team of the Central Biobank Regensburg provided interesting impressions on biobanking and imaging methods. Important aspects regarding consent management were discussed by Valentina Colcelli, LL.B. (Institute CNR-IFAC, Italy), and the appropriate approach to study planning and sample logistics was explained by Dr. Gabriele Anton (AME Molecular Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München) and Inga Bernemann, M.Sc. (Hannover Unified Biobank, MHH Hannover). Other highlights of the summer school were workshops on how virtual reality/augmented reality can facilitate biobanking processes, presented by Dr. Markus Kersting (Hannover Unified Biobank, MHH Hannover), and what opportunities arise from slide scanning and whole slide imaging. The possibilities in this field were demonstrated to the participants by Michael Sysoev, M.A., and Nicolas Weiss, CEO of PreciPoint GmbH. Special methods, such as robotic systems for biomaterial cryostorage, demonstrated by Daniele Pericolini of Angelantoni Life Sciences S.r.l., or the preparation and use of tissue microarrays, demonstrated by Malte Kübler and Julius Förster from Sysmex Deutschland GmbH, were presented in detail. Likewise, the use of image analysis software (Vignesh Ramakrishnan, M.Sc., and Moritz Feustel, M.Sc., Central Biobank Regensburg, UR/UKR) and the correct identification of pathological tissue samples (Prof. Dr. Christoph Brochhausen-Delius, Central Biobank Regensburg, UR/UKR) were met with great approval.
The BRoTHER project and the implementation of the BRoTHER Summer Schools was launched in 2017 and was made possible by the extensive funding of the Bavarian-Czech University Agency (BTHA), which also supported the visit of the consortium partners and the implementation of the 3rd BRoTHER Summer School with generous funding. We would like to express our sincere thanks for this.
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Impressions from the workshops of the BRoTHER Summer School.
Top left: Valentina Colcelli at her workshop "Writing the informed consent and consent for personnel data treatment processing of health personal data for scientific research purposes".
Top right: A BRoTHER Summer School participant gets a first impression of using virtual reality goggles.
Bottom left: Dr. Gabriele Anton and Ms. Inga Bernemann, M.Sc., work out the possibilities with regard to "Study planning and sample logistics" with the workshop participants.
Bottom right: Daniele Pericolini from Angelantoni Life Sciences, S.r.l. demonstrates and explains the functionality of the robotic system for cryo sample storage
Visit of representatives of the Mali Biobank Center
Since 2021, the Central Biobank Regensburg, through the support of Dr. Saidou Balam (Clinic and Polyclinic for Internal Medicine II, Nephrology/Research, UKR), has been in close contact with initiators of the Biobank Mali at the University in Bamako, which is currently in development. Dr. Haby Konaté and Prof. Dr. Cheick Bougadari Traoré visited us as representatives of the Biobank Mali and were able to gain deeper insights and establish further contacts by participating in the conference and the 3rd BRoTHER Summer School. The focus on quality assurance in biobanking was particularly exciting for the guests from Mali. The networking opportunities in the international field of participants of the conference and the workshops have shown them new cooperation possibilities. The visit of the representatives from Mali was made possible by the Regensburger Universitätsstiftung. We would like to express our sincere thanks. We would also like to thank the Regensburger Universitätsstiftung for funding the travel expenses of two workshop leaders, who provided important impulses with their expertise.
Further impressions
Impressions from the Europe Biobank Week 2022 Road Show and the 3rd BRoTHER Summer School
Left: Dr. Saidou Balam reported on the possibilities and perspectives in setting up the biobank at the University of Bamako/Mali.
Middle: Conference participants learn about the latest developments in biobanking during the poster exhibition.
Right: Prof. Dr. Christoph Brochhausen (center, front) discusses specific tissue characteristics in a small "clinical pathology" conference.
