Central Biorepository

Facility

The RePORT India Central Biorepository was established in 2016 at the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR-NIRT), Chennai, with support from the Department of Biotechnology, and became fully operational in April 2017.

Goal

The goal of the Central Biorepository (CBR) is to receive, store and disseminate high quality biospecimens with well characterized data to support future research in Tuberculosis (TB).

Process

Clinical research sites across India collect biological specimens from cohorts of active TB patients and their household contacts, process them on-site and ship them to the CBR. The CBR receives and stores these biospecimens at appropriate temperatures following ‘best practices’.

Facility

The RePORT India Central Biorepository recently transitioned to ICMR-NIRT’s newly constructed Composite Research Facility at its Thiruvallur site ~50 km away from the main campus. A fully equipped BSL-III laboratory, animal BSL-III laboratory, and Data Centre are annexed to this facility to facilitate cutting-edge TB research.

Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell (PBMC)

External Quality Assurance (EQA) Program

The in-country peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) External Quality Assurance (EQA) Program for RePORT India was established in a project mode to support the Indian labs undertaking sample processing and storage for the RePORT India TB Consortium. With the support and training provided by the team from the Immunology Quality Assurance Program of Duke Human Vaccine Institute, USA, the NIRT PBMC EQA Program was initiated in April 2017. After successful prequalification of the participating sites, quarterly surveys have been implemented since the beginning of 2018. The EQA team also support the training of lab personnel in PBMC isolation and cryopreservation and help sites with troubleshooting and corrective action as and when required.

Team

The Biorepository is manned by an excellent team of lab personnel well trained in Good Clinical Practice (GCP), Good Clinical Practice (GCLP) and International Air Transport Association (IATA) regulations, besides biorepository management (receiving, segregating and storing biospecimens) and online inventory management. The staff strictly adhere to Standardized Operating Procedures specific to each task and apply strict quality control measures in every aspect of Biorepository maintenance. The biorepository team also coordinates between the Clinical Research Sites and Shipping agencies for timely shipment of samples as well as supplies.