Biobank Graz: The Hub for Innovative Biomedical Research

Abstract

Biobank Graz was established in 2007 as publicly funded, non-profit central research facility of Medical University of Graz, Austria. Biobank Graz is ISO 9001:2008 certified and stores about 7.5 million samples and their associated data, including formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) and fresh frozen tissues plus fluid samples (serum, plasma, full blood, urine and cerebrospinal, follicular and seminal fluids, etc.) covering 30 years of collection. Samples are handled and stored in semi or fully automated systems to optimally maintain sample quality and retrieval rates. With its broad informed consent, Biobank Graz distributes samples worldwide to ethically and scientifically approved research projects from academia, industry, and cooperative studies in biomedical sciences. This is why Biobank Graz can be viewed as a central hub for biomedical research.