Biobanking in the COVID-19 Era and Beyond: Part 1. How Early Experiences Can Translate into Actionable Wisdom

Allocca, Clare M.; Bledsoe, Marianna J; Albert, Monique; Anisimov, S. V.; Bravo, Elena; Castelhano, Marta G.; Cohen, Yinon; Wilde, Mieke De; Furuta, Koh; Kozlakidis, Zisis; Martin, Dunja; Martins, Anabela; McCall, Shannon J.; Morrin, Helen; Pugh, Rebecca S.; Schacter, Brent; Simeon-Dubach, Daniel; Snapes, Emma

doi:10.1089/bio.2020.0082

Cited by 13 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(20 reference statements)

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“… 36 Finally, researchers or others involved in sample collection could be exposed to the virus if proper infection control measures are not in place, 37 and the availability and access to appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) have been limited. 38 When PPE is available, its use, including the use of face masks, can preclude optimal face-to-face informed consent discussions. 36 …”

Section: Biobanking For Covid-19 In Lmics: Ethical Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges to biobanking in LMICs during COVID-19: time to reconceptualise research ethics guidance for pandemics and public health emergencies?

2021

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Biobanking can promote valuable health research that may lead to significant societal benefits. However, collecting, storing and sharing human samples and data for research purposes present numerous ethical challenges. These challenges are exacerbated when the biobanking efforts aim to facilitate research on public health emergencies and include the sharing of samples and data between low/middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs). In this article, we explore ethical challenges for COVID-19 biobanking, offering examples from two past infectious disease outbreaks in LMICs where biobanking activities contributed to the perpetuation of global inequities. We focus on how the ethical imperative to promote the common good during public health emergencies can conflict with protecting the interests of biobank participants. We discuss how conducting biobank research under a waiver of informed consent during public health emergencies is ethically permissible, provided guidance is in place to prevent biopiracy and exploitation of vulnerable communities. We also highlight the need for biobank collaborations between LMICs and HICs to promote capacity building and benefit sharing. Finally, we offer guidance to promote the ethical oversight of biobanks and biobank research during the COVID-19 pandemic or other future public health emergencies.

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Section: Biobanking For Covid-19 In Lmics: Ethical Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges to biobanking in LMICs during COVID-19: time to reconceptualise research ethics guidance for pandemics and public health emergencies?

2021

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“…Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has exerted profound effects on human health and national economies that are likely to continue for many years. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] While recognizing that researchers and by extension biobankers may have experienced less serious hardship than other affected professionals, 7 the COVID-19 pandemic is nonetheless exerting particular pressures on biobanks, due to the position of biobanking at the nexus between clinical care and research (Figure 1). Pressures on biobanking can therefore be indirect through changes in the provision of health care and/or support for research, as well as direct by constraining biobank operations or funding.…”

Section: Impact Of the Covid-19 Pandemic On Clinical Care Biomedical And Health Research And Biobankingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pressures on biobanking can therefore be indirect through changes in the provision of health care and/or support for research, as well as direct by constraining biobank operations or funding. 4 These pressures can reduce the supply of necessary biobanking resources, the research demand for biobanking services and/or the direct financial support that is available to biobanks (Figure 1).…”

Section: Impact Of the Covid-19 Pandemic On Clinical Care Biomedical And Health Research And Biobankingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…10 Reduced funding could lead researchers to abandon biospecimen-driven projects and/or increasingly seek the most affordable biospecimens and data, as opposed to quality biospecimens from professional biobanks. 14 At an operational level, social distancing requirements have reduced access to both research laboratories and infrastructure facilities such as biobanks, 4,6,7,27 and in geographically isolated countries, travel restrictions are preventing specialist engineers from servicing or repairing essential research and biobank equipment (Figure 1). In summary, reduced biomedical and health research funding and capacity is likely to reduce research demand for non-COVID-19 biospecimens and data (Figure 1), further reducing the capacity of biobanks to recover their operating costs through research support and/or service provision, [18][19][20][21] and placing further pressures on biobank sustainability.…”

Section: Impact Of the Covid-19 Pandemic On Clinical Care Biomedical And Health Research And Biobankingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, glue needs to maintain its function under pressure and to expand and contract according to changing environmental conditions. Given the many disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] it is not surprising that the resulting changes to the delivery of health care and/or the conduct of research are adding further stresses to the already strained glue of biobanking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Building Research Support Capacity across Human Health Biobanks during the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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Human health biobanks are forms of research infrastructure that supply biospecimens and associated data to researchers, and therefore juxtapose the activities of clinical care and biomedical research. The discipline of biobanking has existed for over 20 years and is supported by several international professional societies and dedicated academic journals. However, despite both rising research demand for human biospecimens, and the growth of biobanking as an academic discipline, many individual biobanks continue to experience sustainability challenges. This commentary will summarize how the COVID-19 pandemic is creating new challenges and opportunities for both the health biobanking sector and the supporting discipline of biobanking. While the challenges for biobanks may be numerous and acute, there are opportunities for both individual biobanks and the discipline of biobanking to embrace change such that biobanks can continue to support and drive biomedical research. We will therefore describe numerous practical steps that individual biobanks and/or the discipline of biobanking can take to survive and possibly thrive in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The Importance of Biobanking COVID-19 Samples

Chiloyan¹,

Nanushyan²

2022

Biobanks in Low- And Middle-Income Countries: Relevance, Setup and Management

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Biobanking in the COVID-19 Era and Beyond: Part 1. How Early Experiences Can Translate into Actionable Wisdom

Cited by 13 publications

References 22 publications

Challenges to biobanking in LMICs during COVID-19: time to reconceptualise research ethics guidance for pandemics and public health emergencies?

Challenges to biobanking in LMICs during COVID-19: time to reconceptualise research ethics guidance for pandemics and public health emergencies?

Building Research Support Capacity across Human Health Biobanks during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Importance of Biobanking COVID-19 Samples

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