What is a biobank?
A biobank is a place to store human biological samples to be used in research for the purpose of advancing healthcare and medicine. The goal of the brain bank is to provide the scientific community with clinical data and brain samples that have been preserved under optimal conditions for research, to advance discoveries that will inform treatment and prevention of dementias. The study of brain tissue is crucial to understand mental and neurological disorders. Brain donations allow researchers to study psychiatric and neurological disorders; tissue samples from donated brains give direct access to the cells, proteins and genes of the brain.
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Who we are
The Dale E. Creighton Brain & BioBank (DECBB) in London, Ontario, was launched in collaboration with scientists, professors and physicians of London Health Sciences Centre, Western University and St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
The biosamples are physically located at Robarts Research Institute of the University of Western Ontario, with administrative offices at both and Robarts Research Institute and Parkwood Institute. The clinical database (deidentified) is stored with Lawson Research Institute’s secured RedCap database system.
Our goals
1) To increase the availability of brain tissue and bio-specimens from deceased patients with a history of dementia or concussions.
2) To increase public awareness of the value of post-mortem brain donation.
3) To simplify the process of becoming a donor.
4) To make available to qualified researchers high-quality, well-characterized human post-mortem brain tissue, quality blood and CSF samples and associated valuable clinical data from patients with a history of dementia or concussions.