$12 million for NSW Health Statewide Biobank

The NSW Government is investing $12 million to develop a NSW Health Statewide Biobank that will house Australia’s first large-scale automated storage facility for human biological samples used in medical research.

The facility is being constructed at the Professor Marie Bashir Centre located at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital campus. Capital works are due to be completed around July 2017. It is intended to be the key part of a statewide service being led by NSW Health Pathology and overseen by Sydney Local Health District.

The NSW Health Statewide Biobank will be located in the Professor Marie Bashir Centre located at RPA campus.[/caption]“The NSW Health Statewide Biobank will be a valuable research asset and will be a boost for research in NSW”, Dr Antonio Penna, Executive Director, Office for Health and Medical Research said.

The NSW Health Statewide Biobank will help researchers gain a more in-depth understanding of the health of the NSW community, enable greater participation in major international research studies, and improve the way disease is detected, diagnosed and treated. The scale of the facility and the use of robotics will enable large scale population collections as well.

“NSW Health Pathology will operate the NSW Health Statewide Biobank using the world’s best practice methods. The work at the facility will also be integrated with the work we are undertaking to develop a statewide framework to improve how biospecimens are collected, processed and stored,” Professor Roger Wilson, NSW Chief Pathologist stated.

For more information visit the NSW Health Statewide Biobank website.