title: [Connecting biobanks of large European cohorts (EU Project BBMRI-LPC)].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In addition to the Biobanking and BioMolecular resources Research Initiative (BBMRI), which is establishing a European research infrastructure for biobanks, a network for large European prospective cohorts (LPC) is being built to facilitate transnational research into important groups of diseases and health care. One instrument for this is the database "LPC Catalogue," which supports access to the biomaterials of the participating cohorts.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To present the LPC Catalogue as a relevant tool for connecting European biobanks. In addition, the LPC Catalogue has been extended to establish compatibility with existing Minimum Information About Biobank data Sharing (MIABIS) and to allow for more detailed search requests. This article describes the LPC Catalogue, its organizational and technical structure, and the aforementioned extensions.
  
  
  METHODS
  The LPC Catalogue provides a structured overview of the participating LPCs. It offers various retrieval possibilities and a search function. To support more detailed search requests, a new module has been developed, called a "data cube". The provision of data by the cohorts is being supported by a "connector" component.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The LPC Catalogue contains data on 22 cohorts and more than 3.8 million biosamples. At present, data on the biosamples of three cohorts have been acquired for the "cube," which is continuously being expanded. In the BBMRI-LPC, tendering for scientific projects using the data and samples of the participating cohorts is currently being carried out. In this context, several proposals have already been approved.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The LPC Catalogue is supporting transnational access to biosamples. A comparison with existing solutions illustrates the relevance of its functionality.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Medizinische Statistik und Epidemiologie IMSE, Klinikum rechts der Isar der TU München, München, Deutschland. sekretariat@imse.med.tu-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: Klaus A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.affiliation: Institut für Medizinische Statistik und Epidemiologie IMSE, Klinikum rechts der Isar der TU München, München, Deutschland.
authors.forename: Raffael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bild
authors.affiliation: Institut für Epidemiologie II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, München, Deutschland.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Anton
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, München, Deutschland.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schuffenhauer
authors.affiliation: Institut für Epidemiologie II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, München, Deutschland.
authors.forename: H-Erich
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Wichmann
mesh_terms: D018070:Biological Specimen Banks / Q000458:organization & administration*; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D002377:Catalogs as Topic; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003628:Database Management Systems / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005060:Europe; D005544:Forecasting; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D017146:Models, Organizational; D012042:Registries; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods
keywords: Biobanks; Biosamples; IT-system; LPC