At the Indiana Biobank, we support over 30 biorepositories including several National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense, and private repositories. Using our banking service provides a solution for researchers who have a need to bank specimens exclusively for his or her own research, but do not want to invest in the infrastructure (laboratory information management system, freezers, alarms) needed to bank specimens according to GLP. Using our biospecimen management services, the Indiana Biobank can provide collection kit, processing, storage, and distribution services.
Consent Consultation for Broad Sharing and Use of Specimens
The Indiana Biobank utilizes paper and electronic consent in both narrative and visual forms. Our consent is designed to promote broad sharing and use of a variety of specimens. We would be happy to work with your team to develop a consent with similar characteristics. Learn more about our consent here.
Kit Production
Through our Kit Production, the Indiana Biobank makes over 75 unique types of kits and distributes over 5,000 kits to local investigators and to research sites across the United States each year. The Indiana Biobank provides researchers with kits needed for specimen collections and transport.
The kits include pre-printed labels for specimen collection and processing tubes. In addition, a standard operating procedures (SOP) is produced and cataloged for each kit type and common QC procedures are done on each kit prior to distribution.
Rapid Specimen Processing
The Indiana Biobank can process specimens rapidly using a local pneumatic tubing system. We commonly process plasma, serum, PBMC and urine in our rapid processing lab under its standard SOPs. Processing SOPs can also be modified to meet your specific needs.
Specimen Storage
The Indiana Biobank has extensive biorepository capabilities for storage and management of biological specimens. We utilize multiple facilities and locations across campus for liquid nitrogen, electric freezers and ambient storage. Multiple disperse locations provide equipment and specimen redundancy and security in case of catastrophic failure. In addition, we have a Hamilton BiosM10 automated specimen storage and retrieval systems. This robotic system can hold close to 2.5 million 2.0 mL cryovials. It has a Bios API that seamlessly interfaces with our IT infrastructure and LIMS. It has a complete audit trail for specimen tracking and a temperature log for all specimens managed within the system. Equipment is monitored by three alarm systems and an emergency power back-up system.
Specimen Distribution
The Indiana Biobank prepares specimens for distribution upon approval of a specimen request. Each request is submitted to the laboratory staff who follow specialized specimen handling procedures to pull, transfer, process, and sort specimens according to the request specifications. All specimens undergo a final series of quality control checks prior to shipment.
When distributing DNA, specimens are plated for each distribution according to the specifications of the recipient laboratory; this reduces specimen manipulation by the recipient laboratory, limits the opportunity for specimen errors, and allows genomic technologies to be rapidly performed on specimens. The laboratory staff plate and normalize each DNA specimen to the requested quantity and concentration. The plated DNA specimens are genotyped using the DNA SNP fingerprint. The DNA fingerprint data are reviewed for quality, contamination, sex, and concordance. Each DNA specimen must pass all quality metrics to be included in a distribution.
The Indiana Biobank can ship specimens to researchers within the United States Monday through Wednesday, utilizing UPS priority overnight shipping. Indiana Biobank has an agreement contract in place with UPS Proactive Response for increased tracking and handling support. International shipments are sent on Mondays, to ensure that they will arrive at their destination by the end of the week, if possible. The Indiana Biobank offers international shipment with couriers that provide re-icing of specimens in transit and manage the required paperwork for successful customs clearance.
Specimen Catalogs
The Indiana Biobank’s goal is to make it easy for researchers to identify the specimens they need for their research. The Indiana Biobank offers online specimen catalogs that can be queried by researchers to explore the range of specimens available for research use.
Click here to see the The Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health biospecimen catalog.
Request to Bank Your Specimens
The Indiana Biobank can receive collections for new or ongoing studies. Current specimen types banked at the Indiana Biobank can be found here. If the specimen type needed for your project is not listed, please contact us to see if we can add it. We are always eager to expand our collections.
Please contact us to find out more information about prices and services offered.
New Studies
The Indiana Biobank encourages investigators to contact us when they are writing their grant to find out about our prices and available services. The Indiana Biobank is glad to write a letter of support for the grant application as well. Our staff can work with you to identify study collection needs such as specimen collection kits, specimen processing and storage, specimen inventory reports and specimen distribution.
Ongoing Studies
When a study must relocate their specimens, the Indiana Biobank can work with the primary study site to ensure the transition is smooth. The Indiana Biobank staff can work with an investigator to continue their specimen collections. Services might include specimen collection kits, specimen processing and storage, specimen inventory reports and specimen distribution.