PERSIAN Biobank

Developing a biobank— a type of repository storing biological samples—has become an important part of clinical research in the past few decades. If stored under the appropriate conditions, a variety of biological specimens can be kept for many years, and be used for research in medical, epidemiological, and genetic studies, ideally to identify new biomarker, onco-markers or genes causing disease in a large section of the population.

A variety of samples are stored in the PERSIAN Cohort biobank. Samples are taken at enrollment. If one of the study’s main outcomes of interest is noted in the follow up phase (cancer or other disease development), additional blood samples are taken and stored. A fraction of aliquoted samples are stored in local biobanks at the cohort centers, and a fraction is stored centrally in the PERSIAN Cohort Central Biobank. The PRESIAN Cohort Laboratory Information Management System is designed and used for easy tracking and access to samples.