Don’t reinvent the wheel when you can learn and gain insights elsewhere, such as from your neighbors. This rule also applies to biobanking and biobanks. There’s no reason to repeat the same mistakes when we can avoid them. That is precisely why openness and a willingness to discuss help harmonize processes across countries, support the creation of joint research projects, and facilitate the implementation of new approaches in practice.
From June 9–11, 2026, together with our Slovak colleagues from the recently established BBMRI.sk node, we visited three biobanks—one Austrian and two Czech. All of the facilities we visited are part of the BBMRI-ERIC network.
We would like to thank Helmuth Haslacher for his warm welcome at the Austrian biobank at the Medical University of Vienna (Medizinische Universität Wien), which is the second-largest biobank in Austria and part of the BBMRI.at network.
The next day, we spoke with Lenka Andrýsková, Pavel Piler, and Ludmila Šebejová at the Czech biobank CELSPAC, which is one of the facilities of the RECETOX center at the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University. This biobank focuses on population studies, making it unique in the Czech Republic, and is also part of BBMRI.cz.
The last place we visited was the biobank at the Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, which is one of the oldest in the Czech Republic (it has been in operation since 2000) and also serves as the coordinator of the large-scale research infrastructure BBMRI.cz. During the visit, we discussed topics such as data governance, ethical and legislative aspects, quality management, and process configuration in accordance with ISO 20387, as well as communication.
Biobanking is a vital pillar of modern biomedical research, as biobanks collect and store biological samples and related data that enable a better understanding of disease origins, the development of new diagnostic methods, and the advancement of personalized medicine. In particular, the member biobanks of BBMRI.cz also provide these unique samples and data for scientific and research purposes, all in accordance with the legislative framework of the Czech Republic.
And thanks to well-managed biobanks, researchers can more quickly obtain biological material of the highest quality and collaborate more effectively to contribute to improving healthcare.
Biobanking is an investment in the future of medicine. The more open and interconnected the collaboration between individual countries is, the greater the benefits will be for research, healthcare, and patients. Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia are a good example of how sharing experiences in the field of ELSI and biobanking can support innovation and joint progress for the benefit of society as a whole.
This article was produced with the support of project LM2023033.
The Biobank of the Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (IHBT) Prague has reached a significant milestone in the area of quality assurance and standardization of biobanking processes. It is the second biobank in the Czech Republic to obtain accreditation ČSN EN ISO 20387:2021 standard, which is an internationally recognized standard for the competent, impartial, and consistent operation of biobanks.
The Czech Republic and Switzerland are joining forces, combining their expertise in biospecimen quality and the FAIRification of biobank data. The Swiss team contributes a well-established framework for assessing biobank quality, while the Czech partners bring extensive experience in the FAIRification of sensitive data, as well as in the standardisation and integration of biobank metadata into national and European catalogues. Together, both nodes are also establishing a legal framework to support collaboration between researchers and biobanks in both countries.
