USC encourages the creation of repositories (sometimes called biorepositories, registries, banks, or libraries) that provide access, for use in future research, to data and human biospecimens. Some repositories are created and maintained explicitly for research purposes. Others are created and maintained for non-research purposes, but may be accessed for research uses. Such repositories must conform to applicable regulations and policies, as well as the decisions made by patients and research subjects.
Repository activities may involve the following components:
- Identifying and obtaining consent from subjects
- Collecting and preparing biological materials
- Obtaining and updating health data
- Storing human biospecimens and managing data
- Committee review and oversight
- Distribution for use by recipient investigators
If you are planning on creating a data or biospecimen repository please refer to the USC Policy on Biorepositories. In addition, if you have questions or need assistance with a biorepository application contact Kristen Grace.
For more information and a list of publicly available repositories go to Biospecimen & Data Repositories.