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 workshop brings together the ABNA community to identify and document the national infrastructure needs of the biobanking community in an effort to prepare a coordinated investment proposal for A National Approach to Collections in 2024-2025. This session with facilitated Q&A will aim to initiate discussions on the NRI roadmap, and the role of Phenomics Australia (https://phenomicsaustralia.org.au) in coordinating the development of a national biobanking NRI investment proposal. This is your opportunity to have your say and to shape the development of Biobanking NRI.