Six-month update: EvolveBBMRI’s progress in datafication, greening biobanks, and One Health integration

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The EvolveBBMRI project, coordinated by the Biobanking and BioMolecular resources Research Infrastructure – European Research Infrastructure Consortium (BBMRI-ERIC) in partnership with ten member states, aims to further develop BBMRI-ERIC for the benefit of its scientific communities and users, to increase its capacity to serve EU policy priorities and further deepen its collaboration with industry. 

The project is structured in six work packages (WP): 

• WP1 – Acceleration of datafication of biobanks and biomolecular resources to enable reproducible advanced medical research; 

• WP2 – Teaming with industry towards greener biobanking  

• WP3 – Long-term sustainability measures for BBMRI addressing also RI landscape gaps; 

• WP4 – Strengthened approach to training and outreach activities to maximise impact;  

• WP5 – Project coordination and management;  

• WP6 – Ethics requirements.  

EvolveBBMRI activities and outputs will increase the long-term sustainability of BBMRI-ERIC and contribute to a better structured and strengthened European research infrastructure landscape. Learn more about the project outline.  The project officially launched at a kick-off event in Vienna in January 2024. Now, with the first six months completed, it is an opportune time to review the initial results from each work package. 

WP1 – Acceleration of datafication of biobanks and biomolecular resources to enable reproducible advanced medical research 

WP1 is led by BBMRI.de/German Biobank Node (GBN) with contributions from BBMRI-ERIC, BBMRI.at, BBMRI.cy, BBMRI.cz, BBMRI.it, and involving all other national nodes. WP1 objectives are: 

• Extend concept of biobanks as data integration centres delivering quality-defined rich data; 

• Expand number of non-biobank biomolecular resources in BBMRI-ERIC;  

• Increase speed at which biobanks provide data and associated biological material to researchers; 

• Develop mechanisms to document quality of data in a machine-actionable manner; 

• Boost IT expertise in BBMRI-ERIC Nodes by developing joint Task Forces and common dissemination materials; 

• Develop mechanisms for biobanks to scale out with capacities using state-of-the-art encryption solutions and secure processing mechanisms. 

As a first step, the WP1 team members exchanged experiences on topics such as datafication, data integration in biobanks, data security and the implementation of security measures. Based on this, a first outline of a datafication concept for biobanks is now in preparation. In addition, the requirements for the development and piloting of a provenance mechanism and distributed infrastructure to document data quality in a machine-actionable way are being formulated.

A workshop entitled “How to stay on top of the data-driven BBMRI-ERIC ecosystem designed to facilitate access to high quality biological samples” was held at the Europe Biobank Week 2024 and a BBMRI-ERIC Academy training session entitled “Interoperability in biobanking: OMOP for standardisation of medical outcome data’ was also held in May in collaboration with WP4.

WP2 – Teaming with industry towards greener biobanking  

WP2 is led by BBMRI-ERIC with contributions from BBMRI.at and BBMRI.cy. WP2 objectives are:  

• Expanding teaming with industry towards the goal of greening in biobanking; 

• Mapping and teaming-analysis with Biotech, and IT industry to co-develop green solutions for biobanking; 

• practices and procedures; 

• Exploring low energy consumption computing for “green computing”; 

• Introducing Green Incentive and a “Green”-Label; 

• Generating Greening educational material to be shared within the Biobanking community.  

 A network of biotech companies relevant to biobanking activities has been established, encompassing automated storage, equipment, consumables, logistics, and IT solutions. A workshop was held during the Europe Biobank Week 2024 with key industry partners to present their environmentally-friendly solutions to the biobanking community. 

 A survey to identify current challenges and gaps related to green biobanking is being prepared. Mapping these within the biobanking community will help to bring them together with key industry partners in a pilot study to co-design, conceptualise and ultimately co-develop solutions that would help to implement and maintain green biobanking practices. In addition, a webinar was organised to further explore low energy consumption computing for “green computing” and how this technology can benefit biobanks. 

WP3 – Long-term sustainability measures for BBMRI addressing also RI landscape gaps 

WP3 is led by BBMRI-ERIC with contributions from BBMRI.gr, BBMRI.it, BBMRI.de (German Biobank Node, GBN), BBMRI.cy. WP3 objectvies are:  

• Develop a draft 10-year vision and strategy plan towards “One Health in Biobanking” thereby addressing the potential wide use of BBMRI-ERIC generic tools for other sample and data sets; 

• Explore new strategies towards sustainability;  

• Building on recently adopted BBMRI-ERIC Policy on membership of associate and third countries;  

• Continuing enlarging the BBMRI-ERIC membership of remaining EU countries. 

The aim to develop a long-term strategy towards a “One Health” concept has been successfully achieved: the drafting process and stakeholder consultation phase has been finalised and the final draft of the BBMRI-ERIC 10-Year Roadmap has furthermore been approved by the BBMRI-ERIC Assembly of Members (AoM) in June 2024. In addition, contact with the Irish biobanking community have been established, with an event planned at Galway University on 6 September. Further activities to enlarge the BBMRI-ERIC community are in preparation. 

WP4 – Strengthened approach to training and outreach activities to maximise impact 

WP4 is led by BBMRI-ERIC with contributions from BBMRI.cy, BBMRI.it, BBMRI.de/German Biobank Node (GBN), BBMRI.es, BBMRI.it. WP4 objectives are:  

• Develop an overarching holistic career/training curriculum for RI staff in the field of biobanking and biomedical research  

• Establish BBMRI-ERIC as a complementary non-university educational organisation with the BBMRI-ERIC Academy expansion towards digitalisation, greening and One Health  

• Support transfer of knowledge between established National Nodes and towards newer Member States  

• Strengthen communication, outreach, and demonstrate impact to stakeholders  

• Showcase the value of BBMRI-ERIC to engage new stakeholders  

• Increase visibility and engagement with Universities and Hospitals  

• Enabling Nodes and Biobanks to reach their stakeholders 

A survey is being prepared to gather a comprehensive overview of the training programmes offered by organisations and biobanks affiliated to BBMRI-ERIC. ISO 21001 requirements relevant to the BBMRI-ERIC Academy platform and implementation plan are being analysed. 

A Plan for Communication, Dissemination and Outreach (PCDO) has been approved by the BBMRI-ERIC Management Committee (MC). Based on this, a model PCDO is being prepared for use by national nodes. In the BBMRI-ERIC Communication Task Force, national nodes have been asked to identify potential success stories to illustrate the socio-economic value of biobanking. A first meeting with members of the BBMRI-ERIC Patient Pillar was held during Europe Biobank Week 2024 to gather input for a planned European patient website with information on biobanking. 

WP5 – Project coordination and management 

WP5 is led by BBMRI-ERIC. WP5 objectives are: 

• Manage the project in agreement with the EC rules; 

• Coordinate the work between the members of the Consortium and to monitor the project activities; 

• Establish a FAIR management of data all along the project; 

• Assess quality and to submit deliverables and both internal and official reports; 

• Implement clustering activities with relevant international and EU projects.  

EvolveBBMRI kicked off in Vienna on 30 January 2024. Bi-monthly Project Management Team meetings have been taking place since. The Data Management Plan for the project has been developed. To strengthen the strategic impact of the project, clustering activities with relevant EU and international initiatives have started taking place.  

WP6 – Ethics requirements 

WP6 is led by BBMRI-ERIC. The objective is to ensure compliance with the ‘ethics requirements’ set out in this work package. To reach it, an ethics advisor has been appointed.