DZIF successfully establishes Central Bio-specimen Registry with CentraXX

In February 2016, the infrastructure biobanking of the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) at the site in Munich selected CentraXX Biobanking Module (CBB) after a tenure process to select a system for a centralized bio-specimen registry (ZBR). The centralized IT-system, which will serve for data integration, queries, and the execution of reports/statistics, was implemented in the same year at the Helmholtz Center in Munich.

The DZIF is a consortium made up of a total of 35 research institutions at seven different sites distributed throughout all of Germany. The goal of DZIF is to coordinate the translational infection research, to develop new diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic methods for the treatment of infectious diseases.

The ZBR was established to capture data from all DZIF-projects/studies for which human bio-specimens are collected, into one system with integrated query tools. This allows for comprehensive searches across all sites and projects. Since the actual extraction, processing, storage, and removal of samples occurs at each of the partner sites which use individual software solutions, it is CentraXX job to function as a data warehouse, which supports the processes of transferring information into a central solution, and allows for an overview of all bio-specimens and their characteristics.

CentraXX not only covers the structured saving and management of data for the bio-specimens but also integrates – taking into consideration the stipulated data protection rules – clinical data from individual studies which were added to the agreed upon minimal core data of the ZBR. The pilot project for the integration of data and the connection of DZIF-sites to the ZBR is the transplantation cohort, which collects bio-specimens and saves medical data within the research unit “Infections of the immunocompromised host”.

Step by step, all DZIF sizes will be connected to the system – the advantage here is that many of the sites are already using CentraXX for their own operations.

The DZIF is one of six German Centers for Health Research (DZG), of which three have already decided to use CentraXX. In addition to the DZIF these include the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), as well as the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK).

Once more this project underlines KAIROS’ ambitions for continuously expanding CentraXX into one of the leading research portals.