The Finnish Clinical Biobank in Tampere was granted a licence to operate by the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health, Valvira, in early September.
Biobank research involves the collection and storage of human tissue and other samples from patients - a kind of biological library of the human organism.
Specimens at biobanks are not labelled with the patients’ names or identities, but used for study anonymously. Scientists access biobanks when they need to study specimens with similar traits.
The main focus of the Tampere biobank is cardiovascular disease, cancer immunology and type-1 diabetes research.
The tissue and blood samples that will be used at Tampere’s biobank will come from patient donors in the Pirkanmaa, southern Ostrobothnia and Kanta-Häme hospital districts.
People living in the areas served by participating hospitals will receive informed consent forms which grant permission to use their samples in the case they fall ill with one ailment or another, for research in the future.
At the moment, the Tampere biobank is systematically collecting the consent patients in these areas and will begin operations in stages this autumn and early next year.
The Tampere facility is working in partnership with the University of Tampere and Tampere University Hospital.