Projects and Partners of the Biobank

The ZeBanC supports projects of the Surgical Clinic at Campus Charité Mitte and Campus Virchow-Klinikum. The research focus of the Surgical Clinic lies in the areas of regenerative medicine, organ transplantation and oncology.
In cooperation with Prof. Dr. med. med. Beate Rau the ZeBanC supports the acquisition of biomaterials from various studies (GASTRIPEC, SPECTROPATHOLOGY, chemosensitivity testing (EPO), PIPAC) and adequately stores this material. The main goal of the research activities is the investigation and development of new and effective therapies for diseases with primary peritoneal tumors, secondary peritoneal tumors, peritoneal metastases and gastrointestinal malignant tumors.

The Institute of Pathology collects and archives formalin-fixed (FFPE samples) and shock-frozen human tissue from routine diagnostics (therapeutic surgery) to investigate disease-related changes for many years.
Samples of the pathology can only be accessed according to the regulations of the ZeBanC.

The Central Biobank Charité (ZeBanC) supports projects of the Medical Clinic for Gastroenterology, Infectiology and Rheumatology such as the development of prognostic and predictive markers for gastric and esophageal adenocarcinomas by Dr. Christoph Treese. The EPO project is designed to generate patient-derived xenograft models for gastric and esophageal adenocarcinomas (EPO).
The ERGO study pursues the development of predictive biomarkers by sequential analysis under chemotherapy in gastric and esophageal adenocarcinomas (ERGO).
The ZeBanC supports the biomaterial acquisition at the study centers and stores a portion of the materials for study purposes.

The “Liquorprojekt” serves as a pilot study for the collection of biospecimen from Charite inpatient care. At the Department of Neurology, cerebrospinal fluid and serum samples are taken from patients in addition to the diagnostic samples. As part of this project, these samples and the associated data are processed, documented and stored in a quality-assured manner in the Central Biobank Charité (ZeBanC).
Prospective research projects using these cerebrospinal fluid / serum samples will contribute to a better understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis as well as to the improvement of the diagnosis and therapy of neurological and psychiatric diseases.

project leader: PD Dr. med. Klemens Ruprecht, senior physician ward M116

The ALL-REZ biobank as an external partner biobank of the ZeBanC collected standardised biospecimen of children / adolescents with relapse of an acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) since 2000.
Within the scope of the ALL-REZ BFM Therapy Optimisation Studies, biomaterials from pediatric oncological centers in Germany are collected for the diagnostics and research accompanying the therapy. Each year this includes bone marrow and blood of about one hundred patients at the time of recurrence and at defined times during the course of therapy. In addition to mononuclear cells, the ALL-REZ biobank stores DNA, RNA, cDNA, plasma, supernatant as well as smears, cytospins or impression smears. The database contains laboratory data which can be linked with data from the clinical ALL-REZ BFM database.

The allocation of samples for internal and external research projects is carried out according to a defined procedure. Among other things, an expert report is generated by a review board and an ethical vote is required for the specific project.

Inquiries can be sent either to the ZeBanC or to

ALL-REZ Biobank Contact
       
Dr. Cornelia Eckert    
Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin    
Campus Virchow-Klinikum         
Augustenburger Platz 1        
13353 Berlin                
Tel: 450-666088/-566146        
Fax: 450-566946                
E-mail: cornelia.eckert(at)charite.de

The BePS (Berlin Psychosis Study) is a Berlin-wide study to identify genetic risk factors for schizophrenia. The aim of the research project is to better understand the origin of the disease in terms of its biological basis by comparing the genetic material. In the long term, this research project aims to improve the prevention, early detection and therapy of schizophrenia.
The ZeBanC takes over the quality assured storage of the DNA samples.

Project leader: Herr Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stephan Ripke 

Under the title "Berlin Epilepsy Study (BEST) - a prospective long-term cohort", a group of 600 patients with a first epileptic seizure will be tracked over 3 years.
During the first study visit, an exact clinical phenotyping of the epileptic seizure or epilepsy is carried out. In addition, relevant biomarkers are determined by means of examinations such as routine EEG, cMRT (3 Tesla), autoantibody diagnostics (CSF and serum) as well as genetic tests, neuropsychological evaluations and surveys of depressive and other psychiatric disorders as well as quality of life.  

The ZeBanC takes over the quality-assured storage of the CSF and serum samples up to the time of the analysis, as well as the purification of the DNA.

Further information can be found here: BEST-Study 
Project lead: Verena Gaus, Martin Holtkamp and Alexander Kowski

You can reach the physicians by e-mail: best(at)charite.de.

BAPTISe Study "Biomarkers And Perfusion – Training-Induced changes after Stroke" (BAPTISe) of Center for Stroke Research Berlin (CSB)
In the context of the BAPTISe study of the Center for Stroke Research Berlin (CSB), patients with ischemic stroke are subjected to an MRI examination before and after a four-week fitness or relaxation interruption and additionally blood samples are taken.
To determine the cerebral perfusion, various blood parameters are determined in these citrate and EDTA plasma samples.
The ZeBanC undertakes the quality-assured storage of the citrate and EDTA plasma samples until the time of the analysis.

In the context of the CORONA-IS study, several cardiological examinations are performed in 300 stroke patients, who simultaneously have a normal or stable/ dynamically increased troponin T. These include, among others, cardiovascular MRI, serial transthoracic echocardiography, determination of autonomic ECG markers and micro-RNA determination. The aim of this prospective observational study is to better understand the pathomechanisms of cardiomyocyte cell damage in acute stroke.

The ZeBanC takes over the quality-assured storage of the serum and plasma samples until the time of the analysis.  

Research on biomarkers of the blood-brain barrier is conducted within the framework of the study "LOBI" of the Center for Stroke Research (CSB). In addition to MRI imaging, blood samples for the collection of serum and plasma are taken from the patient in the context of the diagnosis service.
The ZeBanC ensures the quality-assured storage of serum and plasma samples up to the time of the analysis.

GendAge is a study for sex- and gender-sensitive prevention of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in older adults in Germany. The GendAge Project aims to understand which mechanisms affect cardio-metabolic morbidity, mortality, and quality of life among older adults in a sex- and gender-sensitive manner.

The study is based on the 1600 older women and men of the existing Berlin Aging Study II (BASE-II) that comprehensibly extracted variables from the fields of cardiovascular and metabolic health, socio-economics and quality of life.
Furthermore, the extraction of follow-up data (as part of the planned investigation) will allow for longitudinal analyses of pathogenesis, disease conditions, as well as the underlying factors. An important step in the investigation is to understand the role of gender, in addition to sex, in relation to the Analysis of cardiovascular risk factors and diseases. In order to achieve this, we will develop a new measure for gender that is based on traditional gender stereotypes, that will be validated and tested for its application.

For this study blood samples are collected from the subjects for serum and plasma extraction. The collected biomaterials are processed, stored and managed by the ZeBanC. 

Project manager: Prof. Dr. med. Ilja Demuth, Charité, Department of Endocrinology, Work Area: Lipid Metabolism, WG Biology of Aging

The LEAD (Learning and Alcohol Dependence) study is a DFG-funded study aimed at better understanding the role of learning and habit-forming in the onset and perpetuation of alcohol dependency. As part of a subproject of the LeAD study under the direction of Prof. Dr. med. Dr. Andreas Heinz of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité EDTA blood samples are collected from about 375 subjects (patients and controls).
ZeBanC assumes the quality-assured storage of biomaterials for study purposes.

More information can be found here.

The LipidCardio study is a collaboration project between the Lipidambulanz at the interdisciplinary metabolic center; Charité - Campus Virchow-Klinikum and the Medical Clinic for Cardiology, Charité - Campus Benjamin Franklin.

The aim of the study is, among other things, a better understanding of the role of lipoprotein a [Lp (a)] in the context of cardiovascular diseases, as well as in the development of type II diabetes mellitus.
The ZeBanC undertakes the quality-assured storage of serum, plasma and DNA samples up to the time of the analysis.

Contact: PD Dr. Ilja Demuth

The LyData study is used to set up a lymphoma database to investigate the development of individualized lymphoma therapies in cooperation with WG Na and WG Schmitt of the Charité at the Campus Virchow Klinikum.
The subject of the study is the molecular characterization of lymphomas of patients with suspected and confirmed lymphoma before, during and after therapy to identify therapeutic targets for personalized lymphoma therapy.
At the same time, therapy-related information and personal data will be pseudonymised  and stored in a database. The molecular results will be related to the clinical parameters and disease progression.

The ZeBanC supports the coordination of biomaterial acquisition at the study center and stores part of the biomaterials for study purposes.

The Robertis study (Relevance of benralizumab targets in skin disorders) conducted at the Department of Dermatology examines which skin diseases are likely to benefit from a newly developed drug (benralizumab). This drug targets the interleukin-5 receptor on eosinophilic and basophilic granulocytes.

In addition to skin biopsies and urine, blood samples are taken from patients and healthy volunteers for the isolation of serum and plasma. The collected biomaterials are processed, stored and managed at the ZeBanC.

Project leader: Dr. Sabine Altrichter, medical specialist at the Department of Dermatology

The Tumor and Biobank of the Comprehensive Cancer Centers of the Charité  (TBB-CCCC) coordinates the asservation, processing and storage of biomaterials of cancer patients. In addition to the collection of tumor tissue and blood samples, the documentation of the relevant patient and disease data is a focus of the tumor and Biobank (TBB). 
The disclosure of this material to interested researchers is organized via a joint body of the TBB and the ZeBanC.

The Berlin BeLOVE study is a joint interdisciplinary research project of the Berlin Institute for Health Research (BIH), the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) and the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin.

BeLOVE stands for Berlin Longterm Observation of Vascular Events and is an observation study. The aim is to analyse the interaction of systemic medical factors that are responsible for the development of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and the identification of predictive factors in a high-risk collective. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the relationships between cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases. In the pilot phase 200 patients are to be recruited.
We as BIH Biobank (together with the MDC site) coordinate the biobanking of the BeLOVE study and take over the long-term storage of biomaterials.

The goal of the GESPIC CROHN (German Spondyloarthritis Inception Cohort) study is to investigate the long-term progression and to identify predictors (clinical, metabolic, genetic, biomarkers and microbiom) for the development of structural joint and spinal damage in patients with axial spondyloarthritis including arthritis in Crohn's disease. The Crohn's arm of the GESPIC cohort is promoted by BIH.
The ZeBanC supports the study planning and takes care of the storage of biomaterials for study purposes.

The ImbruVeRCHOP study is a multicenter clinical follow-up study with lymphoma patients. It includes a first-line treatment of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and higher International Prognostic Index (IPI) and is accompanied by numerous omics studies and construction of a PDX (patient-derived xenograft) platform. The ZeBanC assists in coordinating the acquisition of biomaterials at the study centers and stores a portion of these materials for study purposes.

The aim of the OPTICO ACS study is to examine different pathophysiologies in patients with acute coronary syndrome with a focus on the role of the immune system in a translational study approach.
The ZeBanC supports the study plan and assume the quality-assured storage of biomaterials for study purposes.

The TCR CRG research project is funded by the BIH for the improvement of cancer immunotherapy. The project deals with the identification of tumor-specific mutations and the development of gene transfer-modified T-cells against tumor-specific mutant epitopes followed by a phase I study in patients with colorectal and pulmonary tumors. The collected data and biomaterials are processed, stored and managed by the ZeBanC.

The German Heart Centre (Deutschen Herzzentrum Berlin, DHZB) is a specialized clinic for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. As part of translational research projects selective biomaterials are collected in the heart centre.
The collected biomaterials are afterwards processed, managed and stored in the ZeBanC.

The Competence Network for Heart Failure (KN HI) is a nationwide research alliance founded in 2003 to investigate the mechanisms of heart failure. The interdisciplinary network has a comprehensive biomaterial and clinical database on heart failure.
Some of these biomaterials are stored and managed in the ZeBanC.

National Register for Congenital Heart Disease / Competence Network Congenital Heart Defects

In the National Register for Congenital Heart Defects (NR AHF), patients with congenital heart defects are recorded all over Germany in order to investigate their quality of life, the care situation as well as the genetic causes of congenital heart defects. For this purpose, the registry collects EDTA blood and saliva samples from affected patients and their family members. Within the scope of our cooperation with the NR AHF, we collect, process and store these blood samples and the extracted DNA in a quality-assured manner.

The Translational Safety Biomarker Pipeline (TransBioLine) Project is a five-year program to generate exploratory and confirmatory data supporting regulatory qualification and acceptance of novel safety biomarkers for five target organ systems (kidney, liver, pancreas, vascular, and central nervous system, CNS) for application in drug development.

The TransBioLine Project is a consortium of 27 partners across pharmaceutical companies, small and medium-sized enterprises, and academic institutions from 10 European countries, and is coordinated by the University of Zurich with Pfizer Inc. as the industry lead. It is funded by the IMI (Innovative Medicines Initiative) as a public-private partnership, with a budget of 28M€ and will be active through 2024.  

The Central Biomaterial Bank Charité (ZeBanC) is coordinating the sample-related processes, the provision of sample kits, storage and distribution of samples to the analysis laboratories.

The Innovative Medicines Initiative is a partnership between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry, represented by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). It is working to improve health by speeding up the development of the next generation of medicines, particularly in areas where there is an unmet medical or social need.

Kontakt ZeBanC: Prof. Michael Hummel, Dr. Dana Briesemeister, Dr. Alexandra Stege