The cooperation between the AZV ČR and BBMRI.cz - Network of Czech Biobanks is supported by a Memorandum of Cooperation

BBMRI.cz - The Network of Czech Biobanks and the Czech Health Research Council (AZV) of the Czech Republic concluded a Memorandum of Cooperation in November 2024.

"Our common goal is to develop mutual relations, share and deepen our experience, knowledge and skills - especially in areas such as data management, biobanking and the quality of biological material used in biomedical research and development," says the Chairman of AZV ČR, Prof. Ondřej Slabý.

BBMRI.cz or the Czech Biobanking Network is a large research infrastructure established by the state. It has 8 members coordinated by the Masaryk Institute of Oncology. It is focused on pre-analytical processing and long-term monitored archiving of biological material and associated data. Its main objective is to provide stored biological material and data for scientific research purposes and thus to accelerate the application potential of various scientific fields.

By signing the Memorandum of Cooperation, the two participating institutions declare their interest to collaborate in addressing the challenges related to biobanking, processing, quality control and archiving of biological material together with the management of associated data, which may be of different nature.

"We want to raise awareness of the possibility of obtaining high quality biological material and associated data, which will contribute to the quality of grant applications, their applied potential and especially better reproducibility of results," mentions doc. Roman Hrstka (Executive Director of BBMRI.cz).

Professor Slabý concludes, "We will promote collaboration in the areas of education, awareness and the importance of sourcing quality biological material. This commitment can also be reflected in realistic timelines or planning for the use of funds in project applications for special-purpose support from the Ministry of Health or in undergraduate or postgraduate education in translational and biomedical research."