New guide regarding sample handling in national studies

The guide “Sample handling in national studies” is now available for download. The guide contains a schematic overview of important steps for studies wishing to collect biobank samples from multiple locations around Sweden.

Biobank Sweden’s Sample Service Coordinators have well-established networks and are familiar with the procedures and services, as well as sample and data formats of the different biobanks in Sweden. The Sample Service Coordinator is therefore a natural link between the research study and the local biobanks.

One of the most important goals of the Sample Service Coordinator is to offer support and lower the threshold for studies aiming to collect samples using local biobank sample handling services at multiple sites in Sweden. As part of this ambition, a new guide has been developed to help researchers.

By creating the new guide, the Sample Service Coordinators aim to simplify the process even further, by clarifying to researchers who is responsible for the different activities in the study planning process when it involves biobank samples.

–  We hope that an increased understanding for the workflow will accelerate the process for researchers, but also for personnel who support researchers, says Elin Stenfeldt, Sample Service Coordinator in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Early contact makes a difference

A lot of times, a research process becomes more complicated simply because the dialogue regarding the study is started at a late stage. A general advice for researchers is therefore to reach out early in the research process and to contact the local sample service coordinator at the primary site of the research project.

• Download the Guide “Sample handling in national studies”
• Learn more about the Sample Service Coordinators