Griffith Uni celebrates new biobanking resource, MoU with Gold Coast Health

Griffith University is discussing a number of its recent initiatives as part of the Gold Coast Health Research Week Conference, being held from 27–30 November. Themed ‘Towards a Healthier Gold Coast’, the conference program offers sessions and opportunities for collaborative discussion and networking between clinicians and academics.

The conference will see the university introduce its new biobanking resource, recently installed in the biobank facility of the Menzies Health Institute Queensland (MHIQ). Claimed to be a first for the Southern Hemisphere, GCBiobank installed an automated biostorage resource known as ‘the Arktic’, capable of catering for a library of up to 100,000 specimens in a compact package, along with OpenSpecimen, a biostorage management system. The Arktic will serve as a central repository to store biospecimens, which can then be retrieved by researchers in the future.

“With this new state-of-the-art technology, we now have the resources to improve the management of our existing samples and the capacity to take on new projects,” said Professor Nigel McMillan from MHIQ, who is speaking at the conference.

“MHIQ is committed to translating innovative health research into better health outcomes and so now we are able to offer research collaboration for all academics and clinicians whose work may involve the collection of human tissue,” Professor McMillan added. He said the institute can offer researchers the opportunity to skip the collection process — which can be costly and time-consuming — and go straight into ordering the samples they want with ease.

“Researchers who may not have very large budgets will be afforded the chance of a cost-effective research solution, accessing the samples that they want without having to go through onerous procedures.”

Griffith’s Clinical Trial Unit will meanwhile be appearing at the conference to promote the commercially sponsored clinical research trials it is currently conducting, designed to improve patient care and health outcomes on the Gold Coast, in an arrangement made possible thanks to a newly signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the university and Gold Coast Health.

The director of Griffith’s Clinical Trials Unit, Associate Professor Evelin Tiralongo, said the new agreement will lead to increased clinical trial capacity in the region and will ultimately improve patient care and health outcomes for Gold Coasters.

“This mutually beneficial agreement between Griffith and Gold Coast Health offers different opportunities of collaboration for academic and clinic staff on clinical trials increasing their skills and expertise, and will enable both the health service and Griffith to be involved in high-end translational research for the benefit of the Gold Coast community,” she said.

“It’s a two-way process, with possibilities to refer trials to the hospital and for the hospital to engage Griffith’s Clinical Trial Unit for trial coordination and facilities.”

Associate Professor Tiralongo revealed that the Clinical Trial Unit is currently conducting 10 clinical trials for commercial sponsors, one of which is seeking a treatment for Ross River virus infection. Run by the unit on behalf of Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals, the trial is hoping to show that the tested intervention may be useful in providing relief from the often excruciating joint pain associated with Ross River virus infection, which has impacted an average of 220 Gold Coasters each year over the past five years.

Dr Greta Ridley, from the Office for Research Governance and Development at Gold Coast Health, said increasing the capacity for quality research is a key priority for the health service.

“The more our doctors, nurses and allied health professionals can collaborate with academic partners on clinical research, the better our health service performance will be due to our staff increasing their skills and experience in clinical research and our service delivery being underpinned by research evidence,” she said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Monkey Business