The Biobank of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos (BHCSC) is a scientific research support unit within the Health Research Institute (Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria) of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos (IdISSC). The BHCSC is owned by the Hospital Clínico San Carlos (HCSC) and is functionally dependent on the Fundación para la Investigación Biomédica (FIB) of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos. It is located in the North Basement, Door F of the HCSC in Madrid. The BHSC is registered in the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) with the code B.0000725, is part of the Current AES 2023 within the Biobanks and Biomodels Platform and, in turn, is part of the National Biobanks Network.
The purpose of the BHCSC is to make available to the scientific community the biological samples and associated information necessary to carry out research studies under optimal conditions, respecting at all times the rights of users.
The BHCSC, under the direction of the Scientific Director, comprises the following sections:
Solid sample bank (freezing and paraffin). It has space for storage and a sample processing laboratory (NCB2) with equipment for cutting, extraction of nucleic acids and their subsequent analysis. HCSC and BHCSC professionals collaborate in the collection of samples. BHCSC professionals are in charge of processing and quality analysis. The BHCSC works in coordination with the Pathology Anatomy Department (PD).
The Biobank of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos is part of the National Biobank Network (RNBB). The RNBB is an initiative of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III whose objective is to provide high-level scientific, technical, and technological support to R&D&I projects in health sciences and technologies, as well as to promote innovation in health technologies, through the provision of human biological samples and associated data of excellent quality. It is made up of 39 institutions from all over Spain.
The HCSC Biobank is part of the Current AES 2023 within the Biobanks and Biomodels Platform. Our aim is to make available to the research community the possibility of preclinical and in vivo validation of the biopsied samples they need in their projects by using organoids generated from these biopsied samples.
In addition, the latest articles mentioning the Biobank can be found below:
Services offered
The BHCSC offers the following services:
These services have approved fees in force.
More information can be found in the following links (in Spanish):
Dr. Luis Ortega Medina
Laura del Río Álvarez
Luis González Valle
Sara Centeno Alonso
Julia Cayetana Sorokowski Agudo
North Basement
Hospital Clínico San Carlos
C/ Profesor Martín Lagos s/n.
28040 Madrid
The BHCSC offers the following services:
These services have fees in force that can be consulted in the linked document.
The BHCSC catalogue is aimed at both the services and units of the HCSC as well as any other national or international biomedical research center that requires it.
Current clients:
As a donor, you will be informed by qualified staff that the surplus of your diagnostic samples can be donated to the HCSC Biobank. The most important information that will be communicated to you is reflected in the following points:
More Info: RNBB Brochure for Donors
Calendar with national/international days for different pathologies 2022.
The Biobank is attached to 2 external committees:
Link to the Ethics Committee website.
In the case of requesting samples, the principal investigator must fill in the fields shown below:
The principal investigator (PI) who needs biological samples, contacts the Biobank Coordinator through the “Request samples” section. The coordinator will study the availability of these samples at the BHCSC. If the type of samples requested are not available at the BHCSC, the Biobank Coordinator studies the possibility of establishing a sample collection circuit for this study.
If the BHCSC is able to supply and/or obtain the samples, the Biobank Coordinator provides the PI with the document “Request for sample transfer Annex I”. The PI completes the aforementioned document and sends it, together with the project and the favourable report on the conduct of the project from the corresponding Research Ethics Committee (REC), to the Biobank Coordinator.
The Biobank Coordinator, once the document has been ratified by the Scientific Director of the BHCSC, forwards the application to the Ethics Committee for Research Involving Medicinal Products (CEIm) to which the BHCSC is attached, together with the research project and the favourable report of the REC for the project. If the IRB report is favourable, the Biobank Coordinator sends the documentation to the Scientific Committee for assessment. The Biobank Coordinator communicates the Scientific Committee’s decision to the PI.
To formalise the transfer of the biological samples, the document is signed between the BHCSC and the PI before the actual delivery of the samples:
The Biobank’s catalogue of samples can be accessed at the following address here.
