Organising BBMRI.pl: The Polish Biobanking Network

Poland has around 40 large biorepositories storing unique biological material such as whole brains and muscle fibres from patients with rare diseases, as well as thousands of samples from patients with lifestyle diseases. There are only two population-based biobanks working on a local level and several disease-oriented biobanks specialising mainly in oncological diseases.

The BBMRI.pl Consortium is now working on a plan to establish a Polish network of biobanks, including a national node that meets standards for biobanks.  To guarantee the development of biomedical sciences and international collaboration between Poland and other countries, cooperation is also being envisaged. As it will increase the visibility of samples and data that are stored in the national biobanking catalogue, the network being created in Poland will enhance research activities and improve the ethical, legal and societal framework for biobanking in Poland.

An scientific paper describing the efforts that are being made can be found here.