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6th Annual Australasian Biospecimen Network Meeting -
The 6th Annual Australasian Biospecimen Network (ABN) Meeting will be held on Friday 21 November, 2008 at the Citigate Central Sydney, situated in the Sydney CBD with Darling Harbour nearby. Further details will be available shortly.
Familial Cancer: Research and Practice - Couran Cove Island Resort, Queensland
The 'Familial Cancer: Research and Practice' Conference will be held from 19-22 August 2008 at Couran Cove Island Resort, Queensland, Australia. This is a joint meeting of kConFab, the Australian Ovarian Cancer Study, and the Family Cancer Clinics of Australia and New Zealand. For more information, please go to www.kconfab.org.
Leura VI International Breast Cancer Conference - Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre,
New Technologies in Biological Research - Queenstown, NZ
This meeting will be held in Queenstown, NZ, from September 2-4. The meeting will focus on technologies that underpin biological research, and will host leaders in the development and application of cutting edge technologies being applied to the functional analysis of cells and complex biological systems. More information is available at www.qmb.org.nz/qmbindex.htm.
HMRI Conference on Translational Cancer Research - Newcastle, NSW
The third HMRI Conference on Translational Cancer Research, entitled “Pathways to Tailored Therapies”, will be held in
HUGO 13th Human Genome Meeting - India
The Human Genome Organisation is holding it's 13th world conference in Hyderabad, India from September 27-30, 2008. Click here for more information.
The Human Proteome Organisation is holding it's 7th world conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from 16–20 August 2008. The theme of the conference is “Proteome Biology”. Click here for more information.
Work on the Australasian Biospecimen Network-Oncology Project has begun. This project, funded by an Enabling Grant from the NHMRC for 5 years, involves the development of state, national, and international resource for clinical, epidemiological, and molecular research into cancer. The main aim of the ABN-Onc project is to support, link and grow the tumour banking efforts of institutions in Australia. As part of this aim, we are establishing a web-based tissue specimen locator which allows researchers to search a national database to find out if and where the tissue they need is available. A protocol document will also be developed in order to maintain a high quality of samples across collection sites and assist new tissue banks in developing procedures, and communication across the ABN will be strengthened by mechanisms such as newsletters, email lists, and this website, keeping members in touch with our activities.
Development of the Tissue Specimen Locator - Progress Report
The ABN-Oncology Tissue Specimen Locator has gone live! Most ABN-Oncology banks are now linked up, to search for specimens please click on the link in the menu. Expressions of Interest to have samples listed on the site will be called for in the coming month.
A document containing general guidelines and suggested protocols for biorepositories has been completed and placed on our Protocols page. These guidelines cover issues such as consent, specimen collection, specimen processing, and storage. With this document, the ABN hopes not only to provide information for new biorepositories or biorepositories developing new protocols, but also to add to the literature surrounding best practice principles in tissue banking.
Tissue Collection Activities
Click on the links below to see graphs of ABN-Oncology's biospecimen collection activities to November 2007.| Tissue Collection | Blood Collection | Tissue Types Collected |
New National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research Now Available
Following extensive public consultation, the NHMRC has released it's new National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research Involving Humans. The new National Statement includes more extensive guidance on consent, and chapters on human tissue samples, human stem cells, and research involving foetal tissue. It is available from the NHMRC website.
Our executive committee has recently had an article about Tissue Banking and the ABN-Oncology project published in the Australian Journal of Medical Science. Entitled ‘The importance of biorepository networks: the Australasian Biospecimen Network - Oncology"', it is available from the Informit website.
Establishment of a 'Pathology Support Unit' as a Service for Researchers
Within the Children’s Hospital at Westmead Tumour Bank, a Pathology Support Laboratory (PSL) has been established to support NSW cancer researchers and those working with ABN-Oncology to facilitate research through the provision of specialized expertise in research-based tissue handling techniques. Services that will be provided include the creation of tissue microarrays, virtual microscopy, and high-throughput immunohistochemistry. For more information, please go to our 'Search for Biospecimens' page, or contact TumourB@chw.edu.au.
Establishment of other Enabling Grant Facilities
CellBank Australia
CellBank Australia is now up and running. CellBank Australia is a repository for quality-controlled cell lines used in research. As part of this overall aim, cell cultures of value to the research community are collected from sources within Australia and overseas. Cultures are assessed for quality, replicated in the Cell Bank Australia cell culture laboratories, stored in liquid nitrogen, and then distributed on a cost-recovery basis to researchers on request. They are located at the Children's Medical Research Institute at Westmead in NSW. Funding for this project has been provided by the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the Cure Cancer Australia Foundation, and by an Enabling Grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. For enquiries about the cell bank, please email info@cellbankaustralia.com or go to www.cellbankaustralia.com.
Genetic Repositories Australia
Genetic Repositories Australia (GRA) aims to provide a central national facility for establishing, distributing and maintaining the long-term secure storage of human genetic samples from a variety of sources. GRA will provide Australian medical researchers with a central facility for the processing and secure storage of DNA and cell lines (B-lymphoblastoid cultures established from peripheral blood) collected from patients, controls and epidemiological participants from studies on a range of diseases and their outcomes. The Repositories will provide a source of clinically validated but de-identified patient material, with complete phenotypic descriptors of disease and family or cohort structure that will permit genetic analyses for disease gene identification. In addition, GRA will provide a facility, for researchers who are not themselves able to pursue DNA based research, to deposit materials for collaborative research. For more information, please email gra@unsw.edu.au or go to www.powmri.edu.au/GRA.htm.
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2007 Annual Meeting Programme (including Powerpoint slides from speakers) |
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2006 Annual Meeting Programme (including Powerpoint slides from speakers) |
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2005 Annual Meeting Programme |
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2004 Annual Meeting Programme |
Towie, N. (2007) 'London Hospital launches infectious disease 'biobank'', Nature Medicine 13(6): 653
McHale, J., Habiba, M., Dixon-Woods, M., Cavers, D., Heney, D. & Pritchard-Jones, K. (2007) 'Consent for childhood cancer tissue banking in the UK: The effect of the Human Tissue Act 2004'. The Lancet Oncology 8: 266-272
Zeps, N. Iacopetta, B.J. Schofield, L. George, J.M. & Goldblatt, J. (2007) 'Waiver of individual consent in research: When do potential benefits to the community outweigh private rights?', Medical Journal of Australia 186(2): 88-90
Charo, RA. (2006) 'Body of Research - Ownership and Use of Human Tissue', New England Journal of Medicine 355(15): 1519-9
Hede, K. (2006) 'New Biorepository Guidelines Raise Concerns', Journal of the National Cancer Institute 98 (14): 952-954
Kapp, M.B. (2006) 'Ethical and legal issues in research involving human subjects: Do you want a piece of me?', Journal of Clinical Pathology 59: 355-339
Kaphingst KA, Janoff JM, Harris LN, Emmons KM. (2006) 'Views of female breast cancer patients who donated biologic samples regarding storage and use of samples for genetic research', Clinical Genetics 69: 393–398.
Knopper, BM. Joly, Y. Simard, J. Durocher, F. (2006) 'The emergence of an ethical duty to disclose genetic research results: international perspectives', European Journal of Human Genetics 14(11): 1170-8
Lipworth, W., Ankeny, R. & Kerridge, I. (2006). 'Consent in crisis: the need to reconceptualise consent in tissue banking research', Internal Medicine Journal 36: 124-128
Morrin, H., Gunningham, S., Currie, M., Dachs, G., Fox, S. & Robinson, B. (2005) "The Christchurch Tissue Bank to support cancer research", The New Zealand Medical Journal 118 (1225): 1735
Schmidt, C. (2006) "Tissue Banks Trigger Worry About Ownership Issues", Journal of the National Cancer Institute 98 (17): 1174-5
The Australasian Biospecimen Network is proud to announce a major initiative which has come about as a result of the successful relationship between The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW) - Paediatric Tumour Bank and Kayaking and Cycling for Kemo Kids (KC4KK). KC4KK is a volunteer driven non-profit charitable organisation set up in 1998 to raise money for children’s cancer research and organisations that support children with cancer. To date, they have raised more than $400,000 for the CHW Tumour Bank alone. Following the success of the CHW Tumour Bank, KC4KK wanted to expand their work supporting and promoting children’s cancer research by assisting in the development of a Paediatric Tumour Bank in Brisbane, using the model of the CHW Tumour Bank as a guide, and linking in with the ABN. |
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| In June this year, the Royal Children’s Hospital Brisbane was approached to consider the establishment of Queensland’s first Paediatric Tumour Bank Research Unit. Funds raised by KC4KK would assist with salary costs. Advice and support would be provided byThe Children’s Hospital at Westmead and the ABN. |
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We are pleased to announce that the dedicated team at RCHB Oncology Unit & Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation have agreed to take on such a worthwhile challenge to establish Queensland’s first Paediatric Tumour Bank.
It is hoped that the new Tumour Bank will be established in early 2007, and will result in the availability of many more biospecimens to facilitate paediatric cancer research. The ABN would like to thank KC4KK for their generous support of this initiative.
For more information about KC4KK, please visit their website at www.k4kk.com.au.
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