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Biobanks

Biobanks

January 9, 2023

Translational Medicine Rounds – 9 January 2023

Fueling Research by Saving Body Bits: BC Children’s Hospital BioBank 

Speaker: Dr. Suzanne Vercauteren

Slides: BCCHB ATM Rounds January 2023

Summary: Biobanks process and store biological specimens and associated clinical data for research purposes and have become a common resource in research institutes around the world.

Pediatric research and biobanking is unique in that participants do not consent for themselves but parents or legal guardians make decisions on behalf of their child. The BC Children’s Hospital  BioBank was established in 2015 with the mission is to provide a comprehensive service for the collection, processing, storage, rapid access and retrieval of biospecimens and clinical information for research projects using a professional and compassionate approach to patient consenting.

Introduction

A biobank is a collection of de-identified human biological samples and associated information that scientists can access for their research. Quality biobanks are invaluable to understanding disease and finding solutions to improve healthcare outcomes for Canadians.

Biobank Resources

Biobank tools and information about registering and certifying biobanks can be found at:

Biobank Locators can be found at:

    • Canadian biobank Locator: Biobank locator
      • Registered Biobanks can be found using the Biobank Resource Centre’s Biobank Locator. The locator provides valuable information for each biobank such as its certification status, principal investigator, country, biospecimens collected, and objective. There are currently more than 300 Biobanks listed in the locator, including but not limited to:
          • BC COVID-19 Biobank Network
          • BC Children’s Hospital BioBank
          • Tumour Tissue Repository
          • OvCARE
          • Centre for Brian Health Biobank
          • International Spinal Cord Injury Biobank
          • GU Biobank

        The Biobank Resource Centre also provides a list of international online sources in locations such as Canada, USA, Europe, and more.

    • European biobank locator:https://www.bbmri-eric.eu/services/sample-locator/
    • USA biobank locator: https://specimens.cancer.gov/

Determining the best way to access specimens for your research

    • Biospecimen Navigator Platform will help you locate and acquire biospecimens: http://biofind.ca/ (this site is undergoing further development)

Finding education about biobanks:

Starting a new biobank

    • Receive a free 1-hour consultation on biobanking or how to access biospecimens from the Biobank Resource Centre: https://biobanking.org/webs/contact_us
    • Biobank protocol template. This template document helps the user to create a protocol describing all operational and planning aspects of their biobank
    • UBC Office of Research Ethics
      As of May 2021 New Analysis of Biospecimens Forms will be available for researchers through the UBC Office of Research Ethics website

Testimonial

“Using these biospecimens, we were able to interrogate and validate therapeutic targets, which is important as we strive to translate our work at the patient level.”

–Karla Williams

Canada Research Chair in Oncology | Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar |Assistant Professor, UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Good Read: Unlocking the secrets of healthy aging — from society to cell

January 6, 2023

Sunnybrook Medventions Series Returns

January 4, 2023

The Medventions Winter 2023 Lecture Series by Sunnybrook has been announced.

“The Medventions lecture series is Sunnybrook’s flagship weekly lectures featuring enlightening talks on key topics related to pursuing medical technology innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship, aimed at clinicians, engineers and life sciences researchers and trainees. The lectures offer well-rounded, comprehensive curriculum presented by industry and academic experts in healthcare innovation and commercialization.”

Registration is now open for the following events, which are only available via Zoom:

The 2023 Medventions Lectures Series from February onwards will be updated here

Laura Evgin

January 1, 2023

Laura Evgin

Title: Assistant Professor, Scientist

Department and Affiliations: 

Medical Genetics Department, UBC

Genome Sciences Department, BC Cancer

Program: Medical Genetics, Integrated Oncology Program

Location: BC Cancer

Tell us about your research and what makes you passionate about it.

Our lab uses mouse models of cell therapy and cancer to better understand mechanisms of treatment failure and success, and to evaluate novel therapeutics. I am very interested in the complexity of the immune system and excited that using synthetic biology we can harness its power to eradicate cancers.

Is there a translational aspect of your research that you are most excited about?

Cell therapies are being evaluated at all stages of the pre-clinical and clinical spectrum. T cells that are engineered to express a synthetic receptor, termed a Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR), have made a big difference in the lives of patients living with B cell leukemias and lymphomas. Although these therapies are not perfect, and there is still a lot to learn, CAR T cells have in some instances generated cures for previously uncurable disease. The work that we do in our lab therefore could directly shape the way patients are treated.

Are there any initiatives you would like to see at UBC to accelerate translational medicine in your area of research?

Collaborative pilot project seed funding opportunities are very helpful to get new partnerships off the ground and put us in a position to generate preliminary data for larger competitions.

You are part of the Academy of Translational Medicine Early Career Researcher cohort at UBC. What is the most important aspect of that community for you?

I started at UBC in November 2020 at the height of the pandemic. Almost everyone was working remotely, and although hybrid models are now in place, spontaneous communication and connection have been in short supply. The ATM ERC event was a catalyst to meet other new investigators that are navigating the same challenges.

Is there a resource that you found impactful and would recommend to others interested in translational medicine?

The Canadian BioCanRx Network was created to bridge the gap between early-stage discoveries in cancer immunotherapy and their clinical implementation. BioCanRx funds research at various stages of development, provides studentships for trainees, and hosts frequent workshops and an annual meeting. I have been involved with the network in various capacities and have benefited from connections with many highly motivated and like-minded PIs, trainees, and patient partners through this initiative. I would encourage anyone interested in this research space to explore the website (https://biocanrx.com/).

How do you like to recharge outside of work?

I try to spend as much time outside of work with my family. We like to go to parks or to the beach to hunt for crabs with our son.

Faculty of Medicine Year in Review 2022

December 31, 2022

Genome BC Becomes First in Canada to Adopt protocols.io

December 15, 2022

Genome BC has announced their partnership with protocols.io, making them the first organization to do so. This partnership is pivotal, as protocols.io is a platform that provides a secure option to develop, store, and share successful research methodology. Doing so will provide instructions for other researchers and as a result increase the speed of research.

Learn more about how protocols.io improves research efficiency here 

Successful Academic Renewals Proposals

December 14, 2022

We are excited to announce that there were four successful proposals in the Translational Science and Medicine stream from the second round of the Faculty of Medicine Academic Renewal competition, focused on the recruitment of junior faculty in the areas of data science, translational science and medicine, and virtual/rural and remote health.

The four successful proposals for new early career faculty positions include:

Translational Science and Medicine

  1. Psychiatry, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute: Translational neuropsychiatric research in high-complexity psychiatric youth with depression
  2. Pediatrics, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute: Pediatric psychology research to accelerate evidence-based clinical pain care
  3. Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, BC Cancer Research Institute: Translational lung cancer research
  4. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Edwin S.H. Leong Health Aging Program: Biochemistry and/ or molecular biology of aging and aging clocks

In addition to the four successful proposals in translational science and medicine, there were also two successful proposals in Data Science in Virtual/Rural and Remote Health:

Data Science

  1. Radiology, Pediatrics, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Centre for Heart Lung Innovation: Medical physics, imaging science and data analytics

Virtual/Rural and Remote Health

  1. Medicine, Southern Medical Program, School of Population and Public Health, Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management: Implementation Science within isolated communities

 

Congratulations to the ATM Holiday Competition Winners!

December 13, 2022

Congratulations to the winners of the ATM Holiday Competition!

In lieu of December Research Rounds, UBC ATM Early Career Researchers were invited to submit their Labs decorated for the holidays to the ATM Holiday Competition.

Winners of the competition included a decorated entranceway to the Blakney Lab complete with a wreath, as well as a custom knit version of Dr. Ramon Klein Geltink in festive attire from the Klein Geltink Lab as part of their winter wonderland installation. In addition to the photos, we received fantastic ideas and wishes for the ATM to work towards in 2023.

We hope each Lab celebrates their creativity while sharing the 100 Timbits they have won!

Three LSI Cores receive UBC Research Facilities Support Grants

December 10, 2022

Congratulations Dr. Dean Regier and Fellow Authors on Recent Publication

December 7, 2022

The ATM is proud to share that Dr. Dean Regier is the lead author on the recently-published article ‘A perspective on life-cycle health technology assessment and real-world evidence for precision oncology in Canada’.

Dr. Regier is Associate Director of the ATM and also Chair of the ATM Regulatory Advisory Council.  The authors also included instructors for the recently-completed ATM Regulatory Affairs in the Life Sciences micro-certificate courses led by Dr. Regier, including Dr. Samantha Pollard, Melanie McPhail, Dr. Tania Bubela, and Deirdre Weymann. Please join us in congratulating them all, and by reading about the success of the micro-certificates here.

To better understand what precision oncology is and how the framework developed by these researchers contributes to this important work click here.