Biobanking in a Challenging African Environment: Unique Experience from the SIREN Project

Abstract

Africa was previously insufficiently represented in the emerging discipline of biobanking despite commendable early efforts. However, with the Human, Heredity, and Health in Africa (H3Africa) initiative, biorepository science has been bolstered, regional biobanks are springing up, and awareness about biobanks is growing on the continent. The Stroke Investigative Research and Educational Network (SIREN) project is a transnational, multicenter, hospital and community-based study involving over 3000 cases and 3000 controls recruited from 16 sites in Ghana and Nigeria. SIREN aims to explore and unravel the genetic and environmental factors that interact to produce the peculiar phenotypic and clinical characteristics of stroke as seen in people of African ancestry and facilitate the development of new diagnostics, therapeutics, and preventative strategies. The aim of this article is to describe our experience with the development of the procedure for collection, processing, storage, and shipment of biological samples (blood, serum, plasma, buffy coat, red cell concentrates, and DNA) and brain imaging across coordinating and participating sites within the SIREN Project. The SIREN network was initiated in 2014 with support and funding from the H3Africa Initiative. The SIREN Biobank currently has 3015 brain images, 92,950 blood fractions (serum, plasma, red cell concentrates, and buffy coat) accrued from 8450 recruited subjects, and quantified and aliquoted good-quality DNA extracts from 6150 study subjects. This represents an invaluable resource for future research with expanding genomic and trans-omic technologies. This will facilitate the involvement of indigenous African samples in cutting-edge stroke genomics and trans-omics research. It is, however, critical to effectively engage African stroke patients and community members who have contributed precious biological materials to the SIREN Biobank to generate appropriate evidence base for dealing with ethical, legal, and social issues of privacy, autonomy, identifiability, biorights, governance issues, and public understanding of stroke biobanking in the context of unique African culture, language, and belief systems.

Gender differential in inclination to donate brain for research among Nigerians: the IBADAN Brain Bank Project

“…(Barnes et al, 2015) However, laboratory -based histopathological and neurochemical studies of brain disorders are sorely lacking in sub-Saharan Africa due to lack of infrastructure, relevant skills and brain tissue resource from declining autopsy rates. , (Akinyemi et al, 2018a;Akinyemi et al, 2018b) Biobanking is an emerging research field which is critical to personalized medicine. (Hewitt, 2011) With the declining autopsy rates in hospitals, organized brain donation initiatives have come up as an innovative intervention to ensure supply of brain tissue for relevant research, and they are often components of longitudinal studies.…”

“…(Boise et al, 2017a;Boise et al, 2017b;Lambe et al, 2011) Biobanking is growing in Africa but organized brain banking is virtually non -existent. 1, (Akinyemi et al, 2018a) Public understanding of brain biobanking in the context of unique culture, language, and belief systems has never been examined in Africa. The aim of this study was to determine willingness towards brain donation for research purpose among attendees of neuroclinics in an African teaching hospital.…”

PRECISE pregnancy cohort: challenges and strategies in setting up a biorepository in sub-Saharan Africa

“…Biobanking is becoming increasingly recognised and utilised in Africa in a variety of fields including stroke [7], oncology [8], infectious disease [9] and pregnancy. This summary represents a practical account of the necessary stages required in setting up a large multi-country biorepository and database in low income settings.…”

“…6 Centro de Investigacão em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique. 7 Department of Pathology, Maputo Central Hospital, Maputo, Mozambique. 8…”

Biobanking Spotlight on Europe, Middle East, and Africa: Presenting the Collective Experience of the ISBER-EMEA Regional Ambassadors

“…However, a significant boost was received in 2019 from the UNCST, which now recognizes biobanking as a specialty and supports the development of biobanking in Uganda as central to research. 3 Fostering the exchange of biospecimens and promoting good practices in biobanking are among the UNCSTstated goals.…”