Biobank Ireland Trust is a charitable trust limited by guarantee, and managed by a board of Trustees – C Flanagan, E Gaffney, JJ O’Leary and J Ryan. Day to day running of Biobank Ireland Trust is the responsibility of the Steering Committee. We have no administrative personnel: all grants and funds raised go directly towards biobank scientist salaries and biobank expenses in the network hospital biobanks.
Details : Biobank Ireland Trust
Business Name: Cancer Research Progress & Support Ltd.
Trading Name: Biobank Ireland Trust
Company Number: 394406
Corporation Tax Number: 64144060
Charity Number: CHY 16085
Bank Account Details: AIB 1 Lower Baggot Street
Sort Code: 931012
Account No.: 06293114
In order that the Biobank Network operates harmoniously and cohesively, governance of the network should be the joint responsibility of Biobank Ireland and the participating hospitals as a combined entity. Therefore, it is proposed that a specific governance document will outline a legal agreement on a joint venture between the Board of Trustees of Biobank Ireland and the hospitals participating in the Biobank Network, initially St James’s Hospital. Biobank Ireland and individual hospitals will have joint responsibility for directing and overseeing the Biobank Network and will issue specific guidelines (see Governance of Biobank Network)
Guidelines will be issued in re-evaluation of:
Acceptance of samples being donations or gifts
Information and ongoing education of donors and the public
Approval of procedures and projects by Hospital Research and Ethics Committees
Standard operational procedures for samples and informatics
Deposition of material to the Biobank
Conditions and schedule of storage of material
Early quality control procedures
Audit and sample tracking
Determining resources needed
Back-up biobanks and temperature alarms for biobanks
Security/safety of Biobank facilities
Assignment of bar-coded accession sample numbers
Record keeping, data entry, databases, compliance with the Data Protection Act, definition of password access to databases
Re-evaluation of sample types collected and samples used
Stock audit and definition of maintenance of samples
Biobank Network statistics: re-evaluation of sample types entered/used, use of online database for collaborative projects
Definition of sample life and quality of deposited samples
Use of international biobanking guidelines of ISBER www.isber.org and National Cancer Institute www.biospecimens.cancer.gov
Withdrawal procedures, and audit and sample tracking at withdrawal
Each hospital Biobank is guardian of its own patients’ donations of tissue and blood. Each hospital Biobank’s samples will be handled by that hospital’s Biobank medical scientist (technician) only. Draw down of samples for approved projects at any institution to be regulated in each hospital by the Biobank Director / Committee. A suggested withdrawal procedure is as follows:
Researcher consults online “display window” of network sample collection status
Application to hospital Biobank Committee
Application to lead investigator’s Hospital Research and Ethics Committee
Apply to central Biobank scientific review panel if project not already peer-reviewed and funded
Collaborator’s agreements, once project is approved
Publication principles as agreed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (Ann Intern Med 1988;108:258)