Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital and the Biomedical Research Institute (IDIVAL) have set in motion a brain bank to collect, process, store and transfer biological samples donated by patients and individuals without neurological pathology to be used in research projects.
This brain bank is coordinated by Dr. Nuria Terán, from the Pathological Anatomy Unit, and is integrated into the Valdecilla Biobank, whose scientific director is Dr. Pascual Sánchez-Juan.
Valdecilla Biobank has all the necessary means to guarantee the quality and good use of these samples in scientific research projects of proven quality, will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the ethical and legal standards with human samples, as well as the data protection of donors and the confidentiality of their data.
In fact, anyone can be a brain donor, even if they do not suffer from a nervous system disease. Scientific research needs samples of patients with and without brain disease to compare brains and to study the evolution of neurological tissue during aging.
Inaugural conference
On the occasion of the inauguration of this brain bank, Dr. Gabor Kovacs from the Medical University of Vienna spoke about the indispensable role of brain banks for the advancement in the knowledge of neurological and psychiatric diseases, their early diagnosis and the development of new and better treatments with the ultimate goal of achieving healing.
Due to human brain cannot be studied in living people, the advance of knowledge about these diseases is only possible thanks to the study of brain of post-mortem donors, which gives an invaluable value for researchers to have samples of brain tissue human.
Professor Kovacs is director of the neuropathology unit at Vienna University Hospital, one of the largest hospital centers in Europe, and is one of the main references in the field of neuropathology in Europe. He is also one of the leading experts in degenerative pathology, highlighting his work in the field of prion diseases and taupathies. Among the main contributions of Dr. Kovacs to highlight the recent discovery of a new pathological entity: the aging-related tau astrogliopathy (ARTAG).
