Construction
of a Biobank
in Slovakia

The national biobank project, installed as a hub-and spike model operating with multiple biobank operations in Slovakia, was advocated for several years by an expert team at the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic, Comenius University, Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) and Slovak pioneers. With the financial support of app. 18 Mio Euro by the European Structural and Investment Funds a systemic repository for biological samples (tissues, cells, blood and other body fluids) derived from patients and healthy people will be established. Human biological samples represent a limited source for medical research applications. The newly built biobanking facility in Martin will store previously diagnosed biospecimens of patients across Slovakia in state-of-the-art robotic systems applying all required legal and ethical standards.

The program is complemented by a digital biobank component providing bioinformatic solutions as well as archiving digital records and the use of artificial intelligence algorithms to connect and find connections between results of analyzes and clinical data. Funding in the amount of app. 11,6 M Euro is provided by the Operational Program Integrated Infrastructure (OPPII 2014-2020). Experts from the University of Žilina provide their know-how in the field of information technologies for the generation and analysis of data packages, including „omics“ solutions. The synergistic use of both resources will make it possible to carry out comprehensive research activities including verification of basic research outcome, e.g. novel biomarkers with clinical samples, development of new models for investigating the mechanisms of cancer and rare diseases, while the conditions for the participation of Slovak science in large international projects can be significantly improved. Ultimately, the establishment of this biobank infrastructure leads to the expansion of knowledge concerning health, diseases and their development, wherein the implementation into the practice will help to maintain and improve health or successfully treat serious diseases.