Editorial: Biobanks as Essential Tools for Translational Research: The Belgian Landscape

摘要

BBMRI.be (1), the Belgian biobank network and Belgian National Node of the European biobank infrastructure BBMRI-ERIC (2), was set up in order to support the ever-increasing need for human biospecimen samples for research guaranteeing quality control, access, transparency, and interconnectedness of biobanks (3). The BBMRI.be network was initiated by uniting the three existing Belgian network biobank initiatives i.e., Belgian Virtual Tumourbank (BVT) (4) project assigned to the Belgian Cancer Registry, Biothèque Wallonie-Bruxelles (BWB) (5) and the Flemish Biobank Network (CMI). From 2013 to 2019, BBMRI.be has matured into a solid partner network of 16 biobanks in Belgium and has proven to reach out to a broader community beyond the founding partners. From 2019 onwards, BBMRI.be invites all Belgian biobanks with translational research potential as well as biobank user organizations that are seeking structural research collaborations to join the BBMRI.be network. The strong representation of several members of BBMRI.be in working groups of local, regional, and national decision-making organizations covering ethical, legal and other aspects of biobanking [FAMPH (6), BAREC (7), VLIR (8), BVT (4), BWB (5), NBN (9). . . ] as well as the active participation in international biobank networks and associations [ESBB (10), ISBER (11), BBMRI-ERIC (2), 3C-R (12), ISO (13) . . . ] and regional health/life Sciences Clusters [BioWin (14), LifeTech Brussels (15), Flanders.bio (16)] assures a good cross-fertilization on all levels and pushes forward the development of the biobank community.