BIOBANK OF THE VIRGEN MACARENA UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Location

The Biobank Unit of the Public Health System of Andalusia (SSPA) at the Virgen Macarena University Hospital is located in the city of Seville. The unit can be found on the semi-basement floor in an area that it shares with the Clinical Trial Pharmacy and at the Clinical Management Unit (UGC) of Pathological Anatomy, inside the Virgen Macarena University Hospital.

This unit of the Biobank network was previously part of the Network of Tumour Banks of Andalusia. Since January 2013, it has been a unit of the Biobank of the Public Health System of Andalusia (SSPA).

The fact that the Biobank Unit occupies a single space allows it greater capacity to offer new services to its users. The efficiency and effectiveness of the unit are also enhanced. With its relationship with the hospital, the unit’s efficiency is increased, as well as its agility in achieving its aims. The unit is able to implement new services for its users while maintaining independence in the work it performs. The unit is investing in the time it saves in research and the generation of knowledge. Being integrated into the UGC of Pathological Anatomy allows the unit to share infrastructure facilities with the hospital and increase its support to the research community. The unit achieves this by promoting rapid response times facilitated by direct and face-to-face communication with professionals specialized in various fields, offering access to a wide range of samples or data (under the protection of current biomedical legislation), and enabling the adjustment of rates to the benefit of the researcher.

Infrastructure

The Biobank Unit at the Virgen Macarena University Hospital consists of a dedicated preservation room, a laboratory for the processing of samples, and a registration area.

Professional staff

The Biobank Unit currently employs multidisciplinary professionals (a full-time graduate (Investigation Program), two FPII senior technicians (one full-time and one part-time), a specialist technical staff member, a doctor (ECAI), and a coordinator (doctor) (both full-time). The unit also has a Scientific Director, who is linked to the Andalusian Health Service (SAS).

Activities

The Biobank Unit at the Virgen Macarena University Hospital offers scientific advice to researchers and manages research projects related to different pathologies, including neurological, ophthalmological, pediatric, dermatological, and oncological diseases, among others. In addition, the unit participates in networked projects in which different units of the Biobank participate, including the transfer of bioresources. The Biobank Unit also distributes bioresources of different types (serum, cerebrospinal fluid, plasma, tissue, for example) with their associated clinical data, in accordance with current legislation.

The unit has a special research interest in neurodegenerative diseases. In this sense, the unit works with numerous research groups belonging to the Spanish Multiple Sclerosis Network (REEM), in European projects, for example, MsBase, and with researchers from international centres (The Centre for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School). The research projects that the unit is involved in are primarily ‘multi-centre’ in which national and international groups participate. The research areas include sleep apnea pathologies, the genetics of Multiple Sclerosis, eye pathologies (retinitis pigmentosa, for example), and AMD.

Currently, different collection programs are underway to collect samples from different hospital UGs of various pathologies, including multiple sclerosis, retinitis pigmentosa, retinoblastoma, stroke, and cancer, for example.

Regarding these collection programs, the UG of Neurology and Neurophysiology and the UG of Ophthalmology are involved in the sample collection process, thus functioning as National Reference Centres (CSUR Units). This entails the collection of samples from all over Andalusia in the pathologies of multiple sclerosis and intraocular tumours, respectively. The UGC of Oncology and Neurology is also a referent in clinical trials. Consequently, the Biobank Unit is in charge of the management and traceability of the samples used in these studies, performing intermediary work between the hospital and the companies that commission such clinical trials.

The Biobank Unit at the Virgen Macarena University Hospital is part of the Biobank Network in the Predimed Plus project. This project is based on a study of the influence of the Mediterranean diet on common cardiovascular diseases. Numerous Spanish primary care centres are involved in this project.

The Biobank Unit employs the Isoelectoenfoque technique for the analysis of IgG by immuno-detection and is offered as a service to researchers. This technique that is currently performed in the Biobank area by its staff enables linking research to healthcare tasks because of the technique that supports a diagnosis. This technique thus has a great impact on the development of projects focused on the study of Multiple Sclerosis because it is part of the diagnostic criteria for this pathology.

Collections

In addition to its active sample collection programs, the Biobank Unit at the Virgen Macarena University Hospital has a total of 19 collections that have been integrated from 2013 to the present. The collection includes samples of pathologies as diverse as neurodegenerative diseases, pulmonological, common cardiovascular diseases, ICTUS, cancer, and ophthalmological diseases.

The Biobank Unit at the Virgen Macarena University Hospital houses one of the largest collections in Andalusia, sourced from more than 2500 donors with neurological pathologies, among which are Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and rare or low-prevalence neurological diseases. Of the total samples, approximately 40% are sourced from patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. This fact makes the Biobank a standard reference in multicentre and international studies based on the search for genetic markers through meta-data analysis studies (GWAS). Such studies are facilitated by international consortia such as MSBase and biochemical markers from highly sensitive analyses, for example, metabolomics (Bionand). The samples are collected at the unit at different stages of the disease and provide the added value that the samples are associated with the patient's historical data. This fact makes it a collection of tremendous strategic value for both the unit and the SSPA Biobank as a whole.

In addition, the unit has a collection of retinitis pigmentosa samples, which is the first collection generated at the Andalusian level.

Dissemination of information

Dissemination of information is an activity that has been developed by the Biobank Unit at the Virgen Macarena University Hospital. In recent years, the unit has participated in several information dissemination events such as the European Researchers' Night, Coffee with Science, and Science Week, for example. The unit has delivered talks at several educational centres in the province to inform young people about aspects related to research. The unit has conducted several clinical sessions focused on providing advice and support at a technical and scientific level to healthcare professionals. In addition, the unit engages in social actions conducted through patient associations, as well as preparing information tables in the lobby of the hospital, which are of great importance to the local community. One of the objectives of the SSPA Biobank is to make its scientific field and research activities known to the general public. Consequently, we consider our participation in such informative activities particularly important.

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