ABL FAQs
The Arizona Biospecimen Consortium (the “ABC”) is a project of the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission (the “ABRC”) to raise the capacity of existing and emerging biospecimen banks across Arizona to effectively generate and provide biospecimens for clinical researchers. These efforts involve working on an information system to display biospecimens available for research (called the “Arizona Biospecimen Locator” or ABL), developing standards for biospecimen collection, processing, storage and distribution, and designing governance approaches to facilitate the development of the ABC.
The ABC is funded by the ABRC. For more information about ABRC, see http://azdhs.gov/biomedical/
If you have any questions about the Arizona Biospecimen Locator (ABL) or the Arizona Biospecimen Consortium (ABC) simply visit our Contact page and contact us.
The hospitals and other organizations participating in the ABC support a wide range of basic, epidemiologic, translational, and clinical research. Learn more about the ABC members.
Biospecimens collected include both diseased and normal solid tissues, cells, fluids and molecular samples. The complete catalog will be available to search in summer 2017.
Each biospecimen provider participating in the ABC will use their own protocols to collect, process, store and distribute biospecimens. For each biospecimen displayed through the ABL, the researcher will be able to see the Collection Protocol that had been used to collect the biospecimen or request the Collection Protocol from the ABC site.
In addition, researchers receiving biospecimens will be asked to record information on the quality of the biospecimens they received. Gathering this information will be helpful to the ABC in identifying where improvements need to be made.
Registration will be open to everyone and anyone can search for samples in the ABL. The ABL search will be powered by Velos eSample, which will require limited information to register with the system, including the person’s contact information and institutional affiliation. Once registered, a user will be able to view all information and samples available.
Requests will be made directly through eSample. Once the request is made, additional information will be required to process the biospecimen request. Details of this process will be added when the search and request feature go live in Summer 2017.
Each institution evaluates requests for biospecimens from their institution and will decide whether to release the biospecimens for the particular protocol. Some of the participating biospecimen providers are hospitals with religious affiliation, and thus have limits on the types of research they can support.
Yes, biospecimens are available to industry. Each request will be reviewed by the institution providing the biospecimen(s) to determine if the request can be fulfilled.
Yes, we distribute specimens throughout the US and worldwide
The Arizona Biomedical Research Commission (ABRC) is funding this effort. The ABRC is supplying participating institutions with funding to set up equipment and train personnel, and has funded the development of Arizona Biospecimen Locator (ABL).
Yes, a fully executed MTA is required for transfer of biospecimens from the ABC member institutions to your institution. The MTA is required for several reasons. First, it provides a record of this transaction and the terms by which these materials were transferred. Second, it outlines how the biospecimens should be stored and used once you receive them. Third, it defines what the ABC asks of you in receiving these biospecimens, namely the return of summary research results and your agreement to track the materials within your lab in case we have a request from the depositor to return the materials. Finally, the MTA outlines liability, material warranty, and necessary legal terms that are required when transferring materials between institutions. More information about MTAs and MTA processing will be available when the Locator is available in Summer 2017.
Absolutely! Requests of biospecimens from a company follow the same procedure as requests from academia, in that the submitted research proposal must be accepted and approved by the provider institution and the MTA terms must be agreed to by the company.
In all publications resulting from research conducted with the biospecimens, please acknowledge the provider institution(s) as well as the Arizona Biospecimen Consortium.