TY - JOUR
KW - Biospecimen management
KW - core facility
KW - financial stability
KW - Institutional biobanking
KW - Public health infrastructure
KW - quality management
KW - Service center
KW - sustainability
AU - M. V. Olson
AB - Institutional biobanks are essential infrastructure supporting clinical research, translational discovery, and public health preparedness. However, many biobanks rely on institutional subsidies or unstable grant funding, creating long-term financial vulnerability. The Johns Hopkins Biobank, operating within the multi-division Genetic Resources Core Facility (GRCF), provides a practice-based example of a financially resilient model for academic biobanking. As a College of American Pathologists (CAP) accredited program structured as a fee-for-service enterprise, the Biobank targets a net-zero financial balance in accordance with U.S. federal guidance for service centers. All operational costs, including personnel, infrastructure, and institutional overhead, are recovered through transparent annual storage fees and transactional service charges, enabling high-quality stewardship without reliance on external subsidy. Integration within a broader service center portfolio provides operational flexibility, supports rigorous governance and regulatory compliance, and ensures continuity during periods of fluctuating research demand. This case illustrates how aligning biobanking with institutional service center frameworks can strengthen financial sustainability, enhance accountability, and support long-term access to high-quality biospecimens as part of public health research infrastructure. This model supports public health preparedness by ensuring stable access to biospecimens critical for infectious disease response, clinical trials, and translational science. Further, it offers transferable lessons for academic institutions seeking to future-proof biobanking operations while upholding rigorous standards for quality and participant trust.
BT - Frontiers in Health Services
DA - 2026-03-18
DO - 10.3389/frhs.2026.1778446
LA - English
N2 - Institutional biobanks are essential infrastructure supporting clinical research, translational discovery, and public health preparedness. However, many biobanks rely on institutional subsidies or unstable grant funding, creating long-term financial vulnerability. The Johns Hopkins Biobank, operating within the multi-division Genetic Resources Core Facility (GRCF), provides a practice-based example of a financially resilient model for academic biobanking. As a College of American Pathologists (CAP) accredited program structured as a fee-for-service enterprise, the Biobank targets a net-zero financial balance in accordance with U.S. federal guidance for service centers. All operational costs, including personnel, infrastructure, and institutional overhead, are recovered through transparent annual storage fees and transactional service charges, enabling high-quality stewardship without reliance on external subsidy. Integration within a broader service center portfolio provides operational flexibility, supports rigorous governance and regulatory compliance, and ensures continuity during periods of fluctuating research demand. This case illustrates how aligning biobanking with institutional service center frameworks can strengthen financial sustainability, enhance accountability, and support long-term access to high-quality biospecimens as part of public health research infrastructure. This model supports public health preparedness by ensuring stable access to biospecimens critical for infectious disease response, clinical trials, and translational science. Further, it offers transferable lessons for academic institutions seeking to future-proof biobanking operations while upholding rigorous standards for quality and participant trust.
PY - 2026
ST - Institutional Biobanking as shared public health infrastructure
T2 - Frontiers in Health Services
TI - Institutional Biobanking as shared public health infrastructure: a financially sustainable service center model
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/health-services/articles/10.3389/frhs.2026.1778446/full
VL - 6
Y2 - 2026-04-20
SN - 2813-0146
ER -