More information about the position can be found here.

More information about the position can be found here.

For more information click here!

HOW GOOD ARE YOUR LAB METHODS?  

Find out with IBBL’s 2022 Biospecimen Proficiency Testing programme

Registrations for IBBL’s 2022 Biospecimen Proficiency Testing (PT) programme are now open.

The Biospecimen PT programme allows laboratories to verify and benchmark their performance. You can assess the accuracy and precision of your biospecimen characterisation methods (DNA quantification and purity, RNA integrity, RNA quantification and purity, Cell viability, Tissue histology,…) or the efficiency of your processing/extraction methods (DNA/RNA from whole blood, FFPE cells or frozen tissue, microbial DNA extraction from stool or saliva, cfDNA extraction from whole blood, Viable PBMC isolation,…).

To find out more or check the full programme, go to https://www.lih.lu/en/biospecimen-proficiency-testing/ . If you have any question, please contact ISBERPT@ibbl.lu.

Registration closes on the 31^st of August, 2022.

You can access the latest ESBB newsletter by clicking the link here. 

With kind regards,

ESBB Office

You can access the latest ESBB newsletter by clicking the link here.

With kind regards,

ESBB Office

You can access the latest ESBB newsletter by clicking the link here. 

With kind regards,

ESBB Office

Taking our community's feedback into account, with many changes taking place, we believe the virtual concept once again will create new opportunities to attend sessions and enjoy all the scientific insights from speakers and panelists from around the globe. #EBW21 is the unique opportunity to meet representatives in biobanking as well as other scientific experts from healthcare, academia, and industry!

We are deeply saddened by the news that Dr. Andrew Brooks, best known as “Andy”, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 51 on Saturday 23^rd January 2021. He was a biobanking leader, a research professor in Rutgers-New Brunswick’s School of Arts and Sciences in the Department of Genetics, an academic member of the Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey, research faculty in Rutgers’ Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute and a member of its NIEHS Center of Excellence, and a member of the graduate faculty in Rutgers Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology. Recently he was the founder of IBX (Infinity Biologix) focused on COVID-19 saliva tests (the first approved by FDA).

Andy touched many people with his incredible talents and huge personality working with many institutions around the world, in Europe, USA, Africa, China, Qatar and other corners of the world. Andy, all say, was a true force of nature and will be deeply missed by all of us. He made many contributions as innovator, on Biobanking Science, biospecimens quality control, automation, etc. and he played a key consulting role in biobanking and analytical services. He actively participated in many research projects that have yielded important insights into the genomic aetiology of human diseases and the effects of environmental exposures.

Andy, you will be dearly missed. We say RIP Andy Brooks from your friends, colleagues and from everyone you touched in your life time.

Our thoughts and dearest condolences are with his wife, his children and his entire family at this time.

Rosita Kammler

ESBB President

Biobank Information Management Solutions

& Federated Search & Data Analysis Platforms

To access the programme, please click here.

Days / time:

Thursday 21^st January 2021 from 13:00 – 17:15 CET

Friday 22^nd January 2021 from 10:00 – 12:30CET

Monday 25^th January 2021 from 10:00 – 17:00 CET

January 21^st:      Federated Search & Data Analysis Platforms

13:00     Opening welcome

Jens Habermann & Rosita Kammler

Session Chairs: Kurt Zatloukal & Ann-Kristin Kock-Schoppenhauer

13:15     Showcasing HDR-UK National Gateway Portal Project - a Biobank Management and Federated Search Solution

Paul Smith

Business Development Director, BC Platforms

13:45     TriNetX: Optimising Clinical & Academic Research using a Federated Global Data Network

Paula Underhill

Director Global Clinical Engagement of TriNetX

Christina Mueller

Director, EU Data Networks North, TriNetX

14:15     The Cafe Variome / RD-NEXUS Asset Discovery Platform

Anthony J. Brookes

Director of the University of Leicester HDR-UK node, Leicester, UK

14:45     Bioface - distributed system for Biobanks to share and manage samples information

Dominik Strapagiel

University of Lodz, Poland

15:15 – 15:30     Coffee Break

Session Chairs: Christoph Brochhausen & Phil Quinlan

Challenge Talks ¹ (20 min presentation + 10 min questions)

15:30     Federated Research: Novel Applications of Emerging Technology

Sean T. Manion

Chief Scientific Officer, ConsenSys Health

16:00     Protect and share sensitive data in hybrid clouds

Werner Strasser

CEO, fragmentiX

16:30     Self Service Access and Federated Queries to Clinical and Research Data Using the Open Source Leaf Platform

Sean D. Mooney and Nicholas Dobbins

University of Washington and UW Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA

17:00     Concluding remarks

17:15     Adjourn

January 22^nd:      Federated Search & Data Analysis Platforms

10:00     Opening welcome

Rosita Kammler & Jens Habermann

Session Chairs: Murat Dogru & Petr Holub

10:15     Federated Search for Biosamples in European Biobanks using FHIR and the open- source "Sample Locator"

Martin Lablans

German Cancer Research Center Heidelberg, and University Medical Center Mannheim, Germany

10:45     A Common API for Federated Data Sharing?

Experience from the Alzheimer's and COVID research community

Rodrigo Barnes

CTO, Aridhia Informatics

11:15     Connecting cohorts and samples to public molecular data archives

Tony Burdett

The European Bioinformatics Institute, EMBL-EBI

11:45     Connecting cohorts and samples to public molecular data archives

Jordi Rambla De Argila

Team Leader, Federated EGA, Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain 12:15       Concluding remarks on Federated Search & Data Analysis Platforms

12:30     Adjourn

January 25^th:      Biobank Information Management Systems

10:00     Opening welcome

Rosita Kammler & Jens Habermann

Session Chairs: Michael Hummel & Blazej Marciniak

10:15     Connecting Health and Medical Research with Modern Data Technology using VizzDAT Solutions

Loreana Norlin

CEO & Co-founder, VizzDAT AB

10:45     Control, Manage, Exchange within an ASKION C-line® Biobank

Stefan Chabierski

Manager International Marketing & Sales, Business Development, ASKION GmbH

11:15     Rabbitfish – the tool you need to manage your data

Timo Schüler

CEO, Informeleon LifeScience Technologies

12:15 – 13:00     Lunch break

Session Chairs: Christoph Brochhausen & Phil Quinlan

13:00     Driving High Quality Specimen Data with Thermo Fisher Platform for Sciencesoftware

Craig DeLoughery

Senior Business Development Manager, Thermo-Fisher Scientific, Digital Science Business Unit

13:30     CentraXX for Biobanking

Martin Zünkeler

CEO, Kairos GmbH

14:00     Achiever Medical LIMS – Make Every Sample Matter

Sharon Williams

Interactive Software Limited

14:30     OpenSpecimen, a Highly Configurable Biobanking LIMS

Srikanth Adiga

OpenSpecimen

15:00 – 15:15     Coffee Break

Session Chairs: Ann-Kristin Kock-Schoppenhauer & Kurt Zatloukal

15:15     A national biorepository management tool to provide a unified platform to support tissue bank networks and researchers

Emily Jefferson

Director, Health Informatics Centre (HIC), University of Dundee

Sharon King

Biorepository Manager, Tayside Medical Science Centre (TASC), University of Dundee

15:45     Next generation inventory system – incorporating LIMS with automated freezers for even better collection control and visibility

David Lewandowski

Global Business Development Manager, Cryo Division, Brooks Life Sciences

16:15     Integrated solutions to manage your biorepository and maintain high quality data

Julia de Diego

Technical Business Consultant, ABBOTT - STARLIMS 16:45     Concluding remarks

17:00 Adjourn

Please see here Outi Tornwall's Bio. 

The hand-over from the former President during this extraordinary General Assembly was due to the nomination of Prof. Jens K. Habermann as new Director General of BBMRI-ERIC. ESBB sincerely thanks Prof. Habermann for his dedication for ESBB during his two-year term of presidency and wholeheartedly congratulates him to his new position. 

Rosita Kammler heads the Translational Research Coordination at the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) and the European Thoracic Oncology Platform (ETOP). Her work has revolved around clinical trial biobanking, translational research coordination and project management for the past 18 years. She has provided expertise and leadership for designing, building and conducting the translational research programs and biobanks for IBCSG and ETOP, enabling state-of-the-art oncology research. She is responsible for ensuring that trial biosamples and associated data meet the objectives for quality, quantity, ethical use, to ensure the integrity of research data and analysis. These biobanks have been a critical resource for the more than 50 translational research studies conducted by IBCSG/ETOP, including the ETOP Lungscape and Mesoscape iBiobanks. The Lungscape iBiobank was voted first runner up of the Research Biobank of Year Contest at the ESBB Annual Meeting 2014 in Leipzig.  

Rosita has lived in many countries, from Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, France, USA, Germany, and Switzerland and thus naturally brings in a global perspective to biobanking and advancing collaborative research across the international arena. Rosita has been a long-time member of ESBB and ISBER and has been part of the annual biobanking conference program committees since the ESBB Annual Meeting in London, 2015. 

As ESBB President, Rosita is determined to guide ESBB, together with the ESBB Council, and reinforce the ESBB vision and implement greater value for its members, by ensuring that needs and interest are met for biobankers, and our partners.  

Rosita’s vision as ESBB President is to identify and overcome barriers to meet ESBB’s priorities of promoting biosharing, education, research and innovation. And together with the ESBB leadership, strengthen the professional network for our members, supporting excellence throughout our biobanking field, and closely collaborate with other partners and research infrastructures.

“It is a great honor and privilege to serve ESBB, a remarkable and diverse member-based community of biobanking, research and industry professionals, representing a large number of countries and backgrounds, biobanks, organizations and companies. ESBB is able to successfully disseminate relevant biobanking information and research at its conferences, symposiums, webinars, working groups and task forces. ESBB shapes the future of biosharing.”  said Rosita Kammler

ESBB is deeply grateful for Prof. Habermanns’s exceptional commitment to ESBB these past years and count ESBB greatly privileged and honored to have had him as President. 

Prof. Habermann will take office at BBMRI-ERIC in Graz on September 1st, 2020. BBMRI-ERIC, the Biobanking and BioMolecular resources Research Infrastructure – European Research Infrastructure Consortium, is to one of the biggest ERICs in the biomedical field, with 21 members: 17 member states and four observers, including IARC (WHO). In partnership, BBMRI-ERIC and ESBB organize the Europe Biobank Week (#EBW20), which will be held virtually this year from November 17 - 20, 2020 (http://europebiobankweek.eu). 

Please see below the information on the programme and the speakers.

Days: August 24th – 26th, 2020
Time: 13:00 – 16:45 CET
Format: digital event Scientific program

Day 1: August 24th, 2020 13:00 – 14:45

Biobanks in Routine Healthcare empower Precision Medicine
Chairs: Prof. Jens Habermann & Prof. Elke Smits

13:00 Prof. Jens Habermann Opening Remarks

13:10 Prof. Christopher Baum Welcome Note Vice-President Medicine University of Lübeck (UzL) & Executive Board University Clinic Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH)

13:30 Prof. Elke Smits The role of biobanking in clinical research: investment in future science and health care?

13:50 Dr. Peter Riegman Hospital integrated biobanks should or shall increase reproducibility and ensure biobank sustainability

14:05 Dr. Marco Greco The role of biobanks in clinical care from patients’ perspective EU Patient Forum

14:20 Podiums Discussion Speakers plus short introduction & elevator pitch pro vs cons by Prof. Christian Chabannon, Dr. Dominik Graf von Stillfried, Dr. Stefanie Houwaart, Dr. Norbert Loskamp (Further panellists from politics and health care have been invited)

14:45 – 15:15 “Networking” Break

15:15 – 16:45 Ethics, GDPR, Patient Empowerment and their role for Sustainability
Chairs: Dr. Laurent Dollé & Prof. Christoph Brochhausen

15:15 Prof. Sofie Bekaert Lessons learned in increasing trust with all stakeholders: a crucial sustainability factor

15:30 Prof. Christoph Brochhausen How to disseminate biobank knowledge – public acceptance in times of GDPR and its role in sustainability

15:45 Dr. Rita Lawlor Sustainable Knowledge and the ethical application of GDPR

16:00 Dr. Ronny Baber Stakeholder Engagement for Sustainability 16:15 Podiums Discussion Speakers plus short introduction & elevator pitch by Prof. Roland Jahns, Martin Zünkeler, Valentina Colcelli

16:45 Adjourn

Day 2: August 25th, 2020

13:00 – 14:45 Quality Measures and Certifications as basis for sustainability?
Chairs: Dr. Jeanne-Hélène di Donato & Dr. Ronny Baber

13:00 Prof. Jens Habermann Opening Remarks; Day 2

13:10 Dr. Loes Linsen Quality management systems as promotor of sustainability

13:25 Dr. Manuela Nagel Quality management in plant gene banks for sustainability

13:40 Prof. Karine Sargsyan The importance of biobanking education from schools in medicine and biology studies

13:55 Dr. Barbara Parodi Institutional recognition, governance and sustainability of biobanks

14:10 Podiums Discussion Speakers plus short introduction & elevator pitch pro vs contra by Lea Hofer, Simon Herren, Blazej Marciniak, Dr. Ayat Salman, Dr. Daniel P. Brucker, Dr. Veronique T‘Joen

14:45 – 15:15 “Networking” Break (Different chat channels preselected or one for all?)

15:15 – 16:45 Innovative Concepts and Novel Ideas for Sustainability
Chairs: Dr. Maimuna Mendy & Dr. Balwir Matharoo-Bal

15:15 Dr. Dominik Lermen Expansion of the application areas of biobanks as a strategy for sustainability - Linking biomedical research and exposure sciences.

15:30 Dr. Maimuna Mendy Network and Collaboration for Biobank sustainability

15:45 Dr. Ayat Salman Consensus-oriented Decision-making (CODM) Process to ensure Stakeholder Perspectives: a step to biobank sustainability

15:55 Dr. Elena Popova Genebanks of clonal crops for food security

16:05 Dr. Paul Bartels Cellular Agriculture BioBanks - Penetrating the meat industry while contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals

16:15 Podiums Discussion Speakers plus short introduction & elevator pitch by Prof. Michael Hummel, Roland Leiminger, Prof. Elke Smits

16:45 Adjourn

Day 3: August 26th, 2020

13:00 – 14:45 Financial and Business Models for Sustainability
Chairs: Rosita Kammler & Dr. Laurent Dollé

13:00 Prof. Jens Habermann Opening Remarks; Day 3

13:10 Dr. Laurent Dollé Business concept design: the iterative process

13:25 Dr. Mark Divers Financial Models for Sustainability – the academia perspective

13:40 Dr. Kirstin Goldring Financial Models for Sustainability – the industry perspective

13:55 Erik Steinfelder Biobanking in a Competitive Environment: Qualifiers & Winners

14:10 Podiums Discussion Speakers plus short introduction & elevator pitch pro vs contra by Dr. Daniel Simon-Dubach, Prof. Carlo Largiadèr, Dr. Manon Huizing, Dr. Sara Y. Nussbeck

14:45 – 15:15 Concluding Session and Closing Prof. Jens Habermann, Rosita Kammler, Dr. Loes Linsen, Prof. Elke Smits, Dr. Laurent Dollé, Dr. Friedemann Flügge

With your help we aim to make virtual EBW 2020 come to life with interactive sessions supported by smart technology. Our theme is Biobanking for Global Challenges, recognising the scale of the problems we face in health and the environment, and that more than ever we need to mobilise our diverse biobanks to change things for the better.

EBW2020 is the place where the most highly regarded experts in the Biobanking sector and science gather to hear and discuss new and emerging technologies. 

The inauguration conference of the Liquid Biopsy Summit took place right at the waterfront in Lissabon, Portugal, from February 20th – 21st, 2020. ESBB President Jens K. Habermann was chairing the second day of this inspiring meeting on potentials and caveats of Liquid Biopsy for precision medicine. The different presentations focused on Circulating Tumor Cells, free circulating DNA, extracellular vesicles, and miRNA as well as aspects on standardization, the necessity for multi-centre clinical trials and regulatory challenges for clinical implementation. In this context, Jens K. Habermann talked about how standardized preprocessing of liquid biopsies through biobanks enables precision medicine. 

On February 13th and 14th, 2020, ESBB leadership including Executive Board, Councillors, Chairs of committees, working groups and task forces as well as ESBB Ambassadors met face-to-face at the ESBB office at MCI in Brussels to revisit and adjust ESBB strategies. The open exchange and stimulating discussions were instrumental to align current and future actions to ESBB’s vision EMPOWERING BIOSHARING. The face-to-face meeting was regarded as great opportunity and perfect setup to interact not only within ESBB leadership but also with MCI senior management and all MCI staff in support of ESBB’s daily life in and around our office. It was therefore decided to hold ESBB Leadership face-to-face meetings at least bi-annually next to routine conference calls. 

ESBB’s media partnership with the Genomics Life Conference in Basel evolved to a major involvement of ESBB leadership overall and for the scientific track on Biobanking and Tissue Management in particular: Jens K. Habermann, ESBB President, chaired this track and presented on How clinical biobanks can support precision medicine from a Lübeck and ESBB perspective. Ronny Baber, ESBB Treasurer, reported on Genomics in LIFE - Experiences from the Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases. This track of the conference attracted a substantial number of attendees and led to interesting discussions during the conference and beyond. The conference was well attended by ESBB members.

Jens K. Habermann and Ronny Baber from ESBB Council together with four additional ESBB members from Germany have successfully participated in the training by the German accreditation authority body (DAkkS) in Frankfurt from October 23rd to 25th, 2019. They became certified experts for ISO 20387 accreditation. This is a further step to enable ESBB to offer its members training and guidance towards ISO 20387 accreditation at the highest level through our training and education program.  

Genome Research Institute (1995-2001). Prof. Kallioniemi’s research group is currently active in individualized systems medicine of cancer, with a focus on improving the diagnostics and therapy of leukemia, prostate and ovarian cancer. Prof. Kallioniemi has facilitated launch of grand challenge initiatives in personalized medicine in Finland and Sweden, involving close collaborations with hospitals, health care organizations and industry. We are looking forward to Prof. Kallioniemi’s keynote lecture with highest interest!