Experts in biological samples meet at an international conference in Granada
The Biobank of the Public Health System of Andalusia is the host of this meeting organized by the ISBER that takes place today and tomorrow at the San Cecilio Clinical University Hospital.
Experts and professionals linked to biological sample repositories meet today and tomorrow at the international symposium of the ISBER (International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories) to discuss method validation, quality control, stability and cryobiology of biospecimens.
With the Biobank of the Public Health System of Andalusia as host and in collaboration with the San Cecilio Clinical University Hospital, this meeting is the first to be organized on this topic in Spain and the third in Europe. Its relevance in the field of research and professionals who are dedicated to doing science in Health has been highlighted during the opening ceremony, which included the participation of various authorities, such as Isaac Túnez, secretary general of Public Health and R&D&i of the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs; Gonzalo Balbontín, managing director of the Progreso y Salud Foundation; José Manuel Puerta, scientific director of the SSPA Biobank; Manuel Enrique Reyes, managing director of the San Cecilio Clinical University Hospital; and the director of the ISBER, Alyson Parry-Jones, who has highlighted the contribution of Andalusia, increasingly present in the international arena.
The motto of this event is 'Science, research and innovation in biospecimens' and is dedicated to biospecimens not only of human origin but also microbial and environmental in their different categories and analytical applications. And this event is an international showcase to show the capabilities and services of biobanks, sample repositories, and their contribution to quality research.
In this sense, this event places the Biobank of the Public Health System of Andalusia on the international scene within the field of health sample repositories.
The SSPA Biobank is a network structure present throughout Andalusia. It is articulated through nodes - one of them located in the San Cecilio Clinical Hospital - and is coordinated from a central node located in the Health Sciences Technology Park of Granada. Since 2020, it has integrated 10,514 new donors with oncological, infectious and parasitic diseases, mental, cardiovascular, respiratory, genitourinary diseases,... and from healthy patients whose samples are used as controls. These new donors have given rise to 37,225 donations that have involved 100,887 samples to be used in research and teaching projects.
ISBER, for its part, is the only global forum that addresses scientific, technical, legal and ethical issues for biobanks and biorepositories. Founded in 1999, it is a global organization that creates opportunities to share ideas and innovations in biobanking; encourages collaboration; creates education and training opportunities; provides a forum for the dissemination of cutting-edge policies, processes and research results; and provides an international showcase for innovative technologies, products and services.