Medical researchers often require human biological samples to help progress their work. High-quality samples can be difficult to access, because of the need for live cells or specialised storage. The SVI Biobank stores human specimens – such as PBMCs (human peripheral blood mononuclear cells), whole blood, plasma, serum and tissue – for any disease type.
Established in 2015 with the support of the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust (HMSTrust), the Biobank has now collected in excess of 34,000 specimens from more than 1,200 participants.
The SVI Biobank can store samples for any disease type; we currently store diabetes, cancer, hepatitis, HIV, and HTLV samples.
The SVI Biobank is managed by and housed at the National Serology Reference Laboratory (NRL, a division of SVI) on the
St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne campus.
What we offer
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End-to-end service
Our service offering encompasses:
- pre-study consultation and planning
- sample collection and processing
- troubleshooting and ongoing adaptation to changing study needs
- 24/7 temperature monitored freezers
- secure de-identified data collation.
We offer the complete package for research study needs, tailoring services to the needs of each individual study.
Safe storage and accessWe supply safe storage and access to critical samples for Australian, New Zealand and global teams undertaking:
- primary research
- translational research
- clinical research
- clinical trials.
We can work with you prior to grant submission, to advise on protocols and to provide budgeting information.
How we make a difference
The SVI Biobank supports SVI’s BANDIT clinical trial for type 1 diabetes. In this trial, patients who have recently been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes receive the trial drug (or a placebo) and donate six blood samples over a two-year period. The biobank processes four different sample types from the donated blood and stores them securely until the end of the trial, when samples from each donor will be tested together, to evaluate results.
The SVI Biobank also supports the Australasian Type 1 Diabetes Immunotherapy Collaborative, a clinical trials network of adult and paediatric endocrinologists, immunologists, clinical triallists and members of the type 1 diabetes community across Australia and New Zealand. ATIC aims to accelerate development and delivery of immunotherapy treatments for people with type 1 diabetes.