title: Organization of BBMRI.pl: The Polish Biobanking Network.
abstract: In Poland storage of human biological samples takes place at most universities and scientific institutions conducting research projects in the field of biomedicine. The First International Biobanking Conference organized by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in 2014 shed a light on the situation of Polish biobanking infrastructures. The country has around 40 large biorepositories, which store unique biological material such as whole brains, muscle fibers from patients with rare diseases, as well as thousands of samples from patients with lifestyle diseases. There are only two population-based biobanks working locally and several disease-oriented biobanks specializing mainly in oncological diseases. Consortium BBMRI.pl created plans for establishing a Polish Network of Biobanks, with national node which meets standards for biobanks and cooperation to guarantee development of biomedical sciences and international collaboration between Poland and other countries. The Polish network will enhance research activities, due to better visibility of samples and data that are stored in the national biobanking catalogue. However, it requires more than a comprehensive understanding of all benefits. The list of examples of benefits can be presented as follows: (i) a reduction of the duration and cost of clinical trials and subsequent time to market for anticancer drugs; (ii) more precise patient diagnosis and the associated impact on treatment and lower healthcare costs for providers, individuals, and the nation; (iii) improvements in research experiment time frames and data efficiencies; (iv) convergence to an industry standards for biospecimen quality; (v) optimization of capital infrastructure and IT technology.
authors.affiliation: 1 Regional Science and Technology Center , Swietokrzyski Biobank, Checiny, Poland .
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Witoń
authors.affiliation: 2 Biobank Lab, Department of Molecular Biophysics, University of Lodz , Lodz, Poland .
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Strapagiel
authors.affiliation: 1 Regional Science and Technology Center , Swietokrzyski Biobank, Checiny, Poland .
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gleńska-Olender
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Histology and Embryology, Center for Biostructure Research, Center for Preclinical Research and Technology, Medical University of Warsaw , Warsaw, Poland .
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chróścicka
authors.affiliation: 4 BMCT BioMed Consulting & Training , Warsaw, Poland .
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ferdyn
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Medical Laboratory Diagnostics and Bank of Frozen Tissues & Genetic Specimens, Medical University of Gdansk , Gdansk, Poland .|6 Department of Surgical Oncology, Medical University of Gdansk , Gdansk, Poland .
authors.forename: Jarosław
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Skokowski
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Medical Laboratory Diagnostics and Bank of Frozen Tissues & Genetic Specimens, Medical University of Gdansk , Gdansk, Poland .
authors.forename: Leszek
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kalinowski
authors.affiliation: 7 Department of Ethics and Human Philosophy, Medical University of Lublin , Lublin, Poland .
authors.forename: Jakub
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pawlikowski
authors.affiliation: 2 Biobank Lab, Department of Molecular Biophysics, University of Lodz , Lodz, Poland .
authors.forename: Błażej
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marciniak
authors.affiliation: 8 BBMRI-ERIC , Graz, Austria .
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pasterk
authors.affiliation: 9 Screening Laboratory of Biological Activity Test and Collection of Biological Material, Wroclaw Medical University , Wrocław, Poland .
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matera-Witkiewicz
authors.affiliation: 10 Wroclaw Research Centre EIT+, Biobank, Wrocław, Poland .
authors.forename: Łukasz
authors.initials: Ł
authors.lastname: Kozera
mesh_terms: D018070:Biological Specimen Banks / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D011044:Poland
keywords: BBMRI-ERIC; BBMRI.pl; Biobank network; Poland; biobanking