MARBiobanc is the biobank of the Parc de Salut Mar in Barcelona. It is a public non-profit organization that gathers various collections of biological samples conceived for biomedical research purposes and organized as a technical unit with standards of quality, order and purpose (Law 14/2007 of July 3 on Biomedical Research)
The MARBiobanc is structured around two areas, one that includes mainly tissues (solid tissues and blood) and another one that includes all other non-tissue samples (serum, plasma, urine, etc.). Each of these areas is duly adapted to store safeguard and monitor each specific type of sample.
Services
• Management of collections (samples and associated information).
• Storage of human biological samples.
• Traceability of samples at all times.
• Temperature control reports
• Sample requests management
• Advising on sampling collection in different areas: labeling, coding, cryopreservation, and transport.
• Advising on ethical and legal aspects, drafting informed consent.
• Extraction of DNA and RNA.
Sample collections in the Biobank
• Bank of cryopreserved tumors
• Bank of paraffin embedded tissues (leftover diagnostic tissues)
• Bank of hematological malignancies
• DNA bank of oncological diseases
• DNA bank of cardiovascular disease
• Bank of samples from patients with influenza A (H1N1)
• Bank of lung diseases (Pulmonary Biobank Platform)
Biobank Management
- Scientific Director: Núria Somoza Abelló (nsomoza@imim.es)
- Secretary: Eulàlia Puigmartí Pich (epuigmarti@imim.es), Tel. 933160404
Biobank Technical Managers
- Technical Manager (Hospital del Mar): Beatriz Bellosillo Paricio (bbellosillo@parcdesalutmar.cat)
- Technical Manager (IMIM): Núria Somoza Abelló (nsomoza@imim.es)
- Biobank Technicians: Laia Bojar Chicharro (lbojar@imim.es), Lídia Ruiz Moya (lruiz@imim.es)
Researchers interested in MARBiobanc samples must send the properly completed Sample Request Form to the MARBiobanc secretary along with the following documentation:
• Project.
• Report by the Ethics Committee of the requesting institution, if applicable.
• Report by the Scientific Committee of the requesting institution, if applicable.
• Documentation accrediting funding for the project.
This Sample Request Form must be sent by email to MARBiobanc (marbiobanc@imim.es).
Once it has been received, MARBiobanc will send the request to the Biobank’s external committees: the Ethics and Scientific Committees.
Should the request be accepted, a material transfer agreement (MTA) will be signed between the two centres. Samples will then be sent upon signing said agreement.
Quality management system standard ISO 9001:2015 for the following fields of activity: “Biobanc service provision of human samples for biomedical research purposes: processing and fractionation, storage and /or cryopreservation, transfer and delivery”.