For Citizens
The history of RBGB
In 2005 the Ministry for the Interior and Health of Denmark established a fund for establishing an infrastructure for Danish Cancer Research following the advice of a report published by the clinical cancer research community. In 2009 it was decided that a part of these funds should be spent on creating the Danish Cancer Biobank to store, process, and safeguard the biological material of Danish cancer patients. This was the beginning of establishing the national infrastructure that would later become Bio- and Genome Bank Denmark (RBGB). In 2014 the Danish Regions established RBGB extending the infrastructure beyond cancer research.
Formålet med RBGB er at sikre biologisk materiale til borgernes egen nuværende og fremtidige behandling, samt at understøtte sundhedsforskning og samarbejde både nationalt og internationalt. RBGB opbevarer metadata om biologisk materiale fra hele Danmark og sikrer ensartede procedurer for indsamling, opbevaring og videregivelse. Man kan få oplysninger om det biologiske materiale i RBGB ved at henvende sig til RBGB’s sekretariat. De biologiske prøver og tilhørende metadata er tilgængelige for offentligt ansatte forskere, såfremt de har tilladelse til at tilgå prøverne fra en videnskabsetisk komité. Formålet med denne tilgængelighed er blandt andet at fremme udviklingen af personlig medicin.
I dag favner RBGB 12 kliniske biobanker, en donor biobank og en forskningsbiobank. Der er fastlagt principper for etablering af nye biobanker i RBGB, herunder klinisk forankring og fokus på personlig medicin. Antallet af biobanker udvides løbende.
How is RBGB organized?
The Regional Directors
RBGB is owned and run by the Danish Regions. The Regional Directors are the highest authority in RBGB. The Regional Directors decide the budget framework and the inclusion of new biobanks.
The Steering Committee
RBGB has a national steering committee that includes representatives from the Danish Regions, the universities, the Organization of Danish Medical Societies (chairman), and the Danish National Biobank at Statens Serum Institut (The State's Serum Institute). The RBGB Steering Committee has an advisory role to the Regional Directors and is in charge of improving the organizational structure, approving shared policies, and overseeing the annual report.
The Secretariat
The national RBGB secretariat is located in Herlev Hospital. The secretariat is responsible for the daily running of RBGB, development of new initiatives, and assistance of researchers and clinicians.
Biobank centers and local departments
The biospecimens are stored in the biobank centers and departments to make use of energy saving measures, by minimizing transport and utilizing surplus heat from the freezers.
Biobankcentrene håndterer prøver i den enkelte region og indgår aftaler med lokale hospitalsafdelinger, herunder bl.a. klinisk immunologiske-, biokemiske-, patologiske- og hæmatologiske afdelinger, som indsamler biologisk materiale.
The objective is to achieve the advantage of scale. However, structural variations may arise due to the needs of different medical specialties or for historical reasons.