NIHR Clinical Research Facility: Oxford Health (CRF Oxford Health) recently opened their new BioStorage Service (BOSS), a temperature-controlled biosample storage service, which will increase duration and capacity of sample storage.
A biosample is a sample of biological material including tissue, blood, saliva and urine. Biosamples are commonly used in clinical research to study biological processes.
Previously CRF Oxford Health had capacity to store their own participants’ samples for up to a few weeks. BOSS offers medium and long-term storage capacity, meaning that samples can now be stored for years at a time.
If samples are not properly stored, they can decline in quality as they age. Which, when tested as part of a clinical study, can directly impact the reliability of findings.
Research projects increasingly want to store samples for later analysis after the study has taken place, to inform diagnostic or treatment improvements using techniques that become available in the future.
The introduction of BOSS also means CRF Oxford Health can now store biosamples collected from study sites nationwide, enabling all samples to be stored, logged and managed in one place. This gives study sponsors confidence that samples will remain stable and traceable from receipt to retrieval.
Major research projects already running studies at CRF Oxford Health, will use BOSS to centralise storage across multiple study sites.
Reflecting on the opening, Professor Andrea Cipriani, Director of CRF Oxford Health, said:
“By providing the infrastructure needed for high‑quality biosample handling, CRF Oxford Health is creating opportunities for new collaborations with academia and industry. We aim to accelerate the operational complexity of biosample processing and analysis and foster more precise diagnosis and personalised treatments for brain health disorders.
“BOSS strengthens our position as a leader in mental health research in the UK and internationally, demonstrating our commitment to innovation and collaboration.”
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