The Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI) was one of the first projects entering the European Research Infrastructure preparatory phase of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) roadmap, a strategic instrument that aims at overcoming the limits due to fragmentation of individual policies and that provides Europe with the most up-to-date research infrastructures funded by the European Commission (EC).
Turkey has an observer status in BBMRI-ERIC. The BBMRI-Turkey (BBMRI.tr) seeks to expand the scope of bio-banking in Turkey, the Euro-Mediterranean region and MENA countries. With a population of over 80 million people, we are in the process of mapping all biobanking activities in our country.
The scientific participation of Turkey in BBMRI-ERIC is exerted by the national node, BBMRI.tr which is established in 2014 with a joint effort of the Ministry of Development and Dokuz Eylul University. BBMRI.tr involves Dokuz Eylul University-Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (IBG) as the coordinator and, Hacettepe University, Center for Biobanking and Genomics and Istanbul University, Institute of Experimental Medicine (DETAE) H. Behcet Life Science Center Biobank Facility as participants.
BBMRI.tr has four main goals:
1. Formation of a common coordination structure among biobanks in Turkey,
2. Establishing the ethical and legal guidelines of biobanking in Turkey,
3. The constitution and sustainability of a Turkish biobanking network,
4. While sharing best practices acquired from BBMRI-ERIC and disseminating the knowledge in national biobanks, contributing to the pan-European research infrastructure BBMRI-ERIC.
BBMRI.tr work plan focuses on:
1. Establishment of standard operating procedures for the collection, storage, anonymization, quality control and sharing of biological material and related data,
2. Generation of IT infrastructures for the use of patient registries and clinical data,
3. Standardisation and quality assurance of biobanks and registries.