Phenomics Australia Workshop: Shaping the Future of Biobanking National Research Infrastructure

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Phenomics Australia‘s Deputy CEO, A/Prof. Jim Hennessy, and Director of Digital Platforms, Ms. Sarah Nisbet, were pleased to lead a workshop at the Australasian Biospecimen Network Association (ABNA) Conference held in Adelaide this October.

The workshop “Identifying system-wide enhancements in Biobanking as National Research Infrastructure” focused on bringing together the ABNA community to identify and document the national infrastructure needs of the biobanking community to prepare a coordinated investment proposal for A National Approach to Collections in 2024-2025.

Consecutive National Research Infrastructure (NRI) Roadmaps have identified Biobanking as a critical NRI. Australia has a range of high-quality biobanks that are immensely valuable to biomedical and clinical research. Human health biobanks are mostly implemented at the local or state and territory level but are frequently not coordinated or integrated and involve complex ethics and regulatory frameworks. The need for a functional framework for federating biobanking activities arises from the exponential increase in data generation and the enormous research and public health value in linking experimental datasets to electronic health data.

Roadmap consultations highlighted the need for a skilled workforce and expertise to support biobanking. A national approach to managing Australia’s collections would make certain that specimens are findable, accessible, and usable to ensure the greatest benefit. Advances in new technologies such as AI/ML, digitisation, sample analysis, genomics and transcriptomics are transforming the way collections can, and are, being used to unlock new research possibilities, including aiding the discovery of genetic contributions to disease and advancing precision and personalised medicine.

This session with a facilitated Q&A aimed to initiate discussions on the NRI roadmap, and the role of Phenomics Australia in coordinating the development of a national biobanking NRI investment proposal. This provided a valuable opportunity for conference attendees to contribute their insights and help shape the development of the Biobanking National Research Infrastructure (NRI). The next steps will involve the formation of a national working group to inform the roadmap implementation. Stay tuned!

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