Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to summarize the process towards establishment of the pan-Eurovpean Biobank infrastructure BBMRI (Biobanking and BioMolecular Resources Research Infrastructure) as a legal entity under the ERIC regulation. The chapter gives an overview of the science case for collaboration of biobanks and describes early attempts to bring harmonization, cohesiveness and interoperability to the field, and discusses the possibilities opened up by the ESFRI (European Strategy for Research Infrastructures) process. After inclusion of biobanks on the first ESFRI Roadmap of 2006, BBMRI became one of the first European Research Infrastructure projects to receive funding from the European Commission (EC) from February 2008 onwards. The 3-year EC-funded Preparatory Phase (BBMRI-PP) came to its end in January 2011. During this time BBMRI grew into a 54-partner consortium with 224 associated organizations (largely biobanks) from 33 countries, making it the largest research infrastructure project in Europe. During the Preparatory Phase the concept of a functional pan-European biobank was formulated and was presented to Member States and Associated States of the European Union for approval and funding. The plan was approved by a total of 16 EU Member States and Associated States, which became founding members and observers of BBMRI-ERIC legal entity in late 2013.
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Acknowledgements
Development of the BBMRI concept for a pan-European biobank was a joint effort of a very large number of individuals who contributed to the establishment of BBMRI-ERIC. The author wants to express his gratitude to this large group of individuals, too large to be listed here, for their contributions. The constructive support of Gert-Jan van Ommen and Kurt Zatloukal cannot, however, be left without acknowledgement. The financial contribution from the EC to BBMRI-PP is gratefully acknowledged (Grant Agreement No. 212111).
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This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Leena Peltonen-Palotie and David Cox, who both made major contributions to the BBMRI concept.
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Vuorio, E. (2017). Networking Biobanks Throughout Europe: The Development of BBMRI-ERIC. In: Hainaut, P., Vaught, J., Zatloukal, K., Pasterk, M. (eds) Biobanking of Human Biospecimens. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55120-3_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55120-3_8
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