Establishment of biobank facility at Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute of Iran: experiences, challenges, and future outlook

Biobanking as an emerging procedure referring to the development of sample storage technologies which provide essential structures for conducting research. This paper presents the experiences and challenges faced while establishing the non-communicable diseases (NCDs)-dedicated biobank at Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute (EMRI) in Iran, such as infrastructure, Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), ethical and legal aspects, sample collection, preservation, and quality control (QC). NCDs are a major health problem around the world and in Iran, which is access to biological samples are required to understanding and planning to these diseases. The main objectives of the EMRI biobank is currently the collection and storage of biological samples such as blood, serum, plasma, urine and DNA from patients with NCDs including diabetes mellitus osteoporosis and elderly population based on cohort and cross-sectional studies. The biobank of EMRI aims to have a major impact on the NCDs by supplying biological samples for national and international research projects.