The Gold Coast Biobank established at Griffith University’s Menzies Health Institute Queensland (MHIQ) on the Gold Coast campus, Queensland, Australia, officially opened this week. The biobank is a purpose-built bio-storage facility bridging the gap in translational clinical research. Better treatment and management of chronic diseases such as breast cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s is now one step closer.
Griffith University started teaching over 40 years ago, connecting deeply with the wider Asian region. The University is socially conscious and environmentally aware, an integral part of the community and heavily focused on fueling industry. Their vision is that success often comes from being an exception to the norm—challenging convention, adapting and innovating, creating bold new trends and pioneering solutions ahead of their time. At Griffith, remarkable is the norm. In the process they have become a comprehensive, research-intensive university, ranking in the top 2% of universities worldwide. Teaching and research spans six campuses in South East Queensland and all disciplines, their network of more than 200,000 graduates extends around the world.
A first for the Southern Hemisphere, Gold Coast Biobank features an automated biostorage, the Arktic, with the capacity of holding up to 100,000 specimens in a compact package, along with OpenSpecimen, a biostorage management system.
“Biobank is an important resource where people generously donate samples that allow us to carry out research to find cures for chronic diseases. Without this we wouldn’t be able to find cures of the future. The facility currently holds more than 3000 samples from breast cancer patients and 1500 placenta cord specimens. With this state-of-the-art technology, we have the resources to improve the management of our existing samples and the capacity to take on new projects. MHIQ is committed to translating innovative health research into better outcomes and we are able to offer research collaboration for academics and clinicians whose work involves the collection of human tissue.” – Professor Nigel McMillan, Director, Gold Coast Biobank
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