It's a pleasure to meet
The Vilnius Santaros Klinikos Biobank (BB VSK) is a department within the Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos. It's structured into two main parts: administration and laboratory. The Administration and Project Management unit oversees the Biobank's operations. They manage scientific research and other projects, coordinate with Lithuanian and international scientists, supervise sample storage, set service prices, provide samples to clients, and prepare and update procedural and protocol documentation. Meanwhile, the Biobank Laboratory handles the biological samples themselves. They receive, process, encode, and prepare samples for long-term storage, while also populating the Biobank's database.
Currently, the Biobank collects a wide range of samples from both healthy individuals and patients suffering from various conditions, including hematological, oncological, infectious, neurological, genetic, rare, and chronic non-communicable diseases. These samples include blood, bone marrow, cerebrospinal fluid, tissues, and their various components. Health data is stored separately within the Biobank's Information Management System (BIMS). Both the samples and health data can be used for diverse biomedical research studies, both in Lithuania and abroad.
Mission
Suteikti Lietuvos ir užsienio mokslinei ir industrinei bendruomenei prieigą prie didelės apimties standartizuotų ir susistemintų žmogaus biologinės medžiagos mėginių, siekiant plėsti fundamentines žinias apie įvairias ligas, optimizuoti ir tobulinti ligų diagnostiką ar gydymą.
Vision
Sudaryti sąlygas individualizuotai įvairių ligų prevencijai ir gydymui.
Būti aktyviu pagrindinių biobankų bendruomenių (BBMRI-ERIC ir NBB) nariu ir tapti biobankų lyderiu Baltijos regione.
Sukurti pažangią ir veiksmingą IT infrastruktūrą nacionaliniam biobankų mazgui.
Sukurti palankią, motyvuojančią ir patrauklią aplinką biomedicinos ir gyvybės mokslų studentams atlikti mokslinius tyrimus.
Biobanking process
Biobank regulation
The Biobank is authorized to obtain and collect personal health data from Santaros Klinikos, information systems managed and processed by Santaros Klinikos, medical (health) records from other healthcare institutions and their managed information systems, and other state registers and/or state information systems (e.g., the Cancer Registry, the Electronic Health Services and Cooperation Infrastructure Information System, the Public Health Safety Information System, the State Register of Deaths and Causes of Death, etc.).
In Lithuania, several institutions oversee and control biobanks:
The State Accreditation Service for Healthcare Activities under the Ministry of Health monitors compliance with the conditions for issuing biobank licenses.
Before any biomedical research can begin using human biological samples and/or health data stored in the biobank, the Lithuanian Bioethics Committee or a regional biomedical research ethics committee (Vilnius Regional Biomedical Research Ethics Committee, Kaunas Regional Biomedical Research Ethics Committee) issues permission to conduct the biomedical research, based on their jurisdiction.
If the research involves medicinal products containing human biological samples, the Lithuanian Bioethics Committee issues a certificate of approval, and the State Medicines Control Agency issues permission to conduct the clinical trial of the medicinal product.
The Biobank is funded by Santaros Clinics, donations, targeted subsidies, and service fees.
