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Support services and resources are designed to assist new and existing biobanks. The Biobank Resource Centre offers a range of services to assist researchers in the set up and operation of biobanks including:

• Ethics and regulatory application preparation
• Budget proposals and business planning
• Biospecimen processing, management, storage and retrieval infrastructure
• Facilities design and management advice
• Biobank database requirements, system design and customization
• Leading and conducting a privacy impact assessment (PIA)

We are able to provide one hour of service to members after which as service contract can be established to carry out the work to be done. Please contact us for more information.

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Lists registered biobanks that gave permission to be listed on our site.

Please note that the list includes both Canadian and International biobanks.

View the Biobank Locator.

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Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for biobank operations have been developed by the Canadian Tissue Repository Network charter biobank members. There are over forty SOPs covering a range of biobank activities including: participant recruitment, records documentation, facilities management, quality assurance, safety and materials handling and release.

See the list of SOPs provided.

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Members can access a number of template documents that are commonly used in biobank operations.

The templates are:

• Customizable documents aligned with best practices
• Based on international expertise
• Designed to be complete and thorough and thus maximized time and effort

See the list of available templates.

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How much should a biobank charge a researcher for a biospecimen and associated data? We have developed a reliable and easy to use tool that calculates an appropriate user fee for biobanks to apply to biospecimen requests. The calculator has been developed and tested by biobanks in the Canadian Tissue Repository Network and has been published in Biopreservation and Biobanking.

Get more information about the User Fee Calculator.

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Verification of research findings reported in papers is critical for translating knowledge into clinical practice. However, annotation data for biospecimens are often missing from publications and hinder the accurate validation of studies. We developed an online tool for biobanks to report biospecimen-related data based on the BRISQ criteria in order to offer a complete representation of the biospecimens to be used in research. The tool functions as a checklist and data entry form, generating a summary report of necessary criteria to be included with the biospecimen samples upon release from the biobank. The research premise of this biospecimen reporting tool was published in Biopreservation and Biobanking.

Get more information on the BRISQ Report tool.

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Entering, storing and managing data about participants (e.g. clinical and demographic data) and their biospecimens (e.g. characterization, storage and shipping information) and the subsequent ability to query this data is a core function of any biobank. Our biobank information management system is called Advanced Tissue Management (ATiM). This software was designed and developed by the Canadian Tissue Network in collaboration with biobanks across Canada. ATiM is available for free download for non-commercial use. Full customization of ATiM is offered through a service contract model...

Get more information and an online demo of the ATiM software here.

Click here to view the ATiM Training Videos