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ENCI Biobank

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Overview

The Egyptian National Cancer Institute (ENCI) biobank received the award of Centers of Excellence Grant, funded from the Egyptian Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF) of the Ministry of State for Scientific Research. ENCI biobank is affiliated to National Cancer Institute (NCI), Cairo University. Biobanking activities include the collection, storage and use of human cancer biospecimens and associated data. In the first stage, ENCI biobank collected tissue samples from newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. In the next stage, ENCI biobank will collect samples from other cancer groups as well. The biobank started as a medium-sized biobank but will grow into a large one within the next five years. The Biobank has adopted a quality management system for the purpose of the effective and efficient use of its resources. The quality management system aims primarily at achieving internationally accepted standards and focuses on good quality principles and best practices through application of the system and continuous improvement of the system

 

Vision

The vision of the ENCI biobank is the development of a center of excellence capable of storage and preservation of high-quality repository of biological specimens and associated clinical data, available to academic and industry researchers in order to improve knowledge about cancer in Egypt.

Mission

ENCI biobank mission is to supply researchers with high quality specimens and data, to support infrastructure for cancer research that can be translated into useful results for patients and population.

FIELD of RESEARCH

Cancer research

Head of Biobank

Iman Gouda Farahat (Professor- Pathology,  NCI, Cairo University)

Staff members

 

  Name Specialty
1 Dr. AbdelHady Abdel Wahab (Professor- Biochemistry& Molecular biology, NCI, Cairo University)
2 Dr. Mervat Mohamed Eldeftar (Professor-  Pathology,  NCI, Cairo University)
3 Dr. Merhan Fouda Fouda (Lecturer- Clinical Pathology, NCI, Cairo University)
4 Dr. Ahmed Samir AbdelHafiz (Lecturer- Clinical Pathology, NCI, Cairo University)
5 Omar Dahrog (Technologist, Biobank)
6 Sodfa Tawfeeq (Pathology Co-ordinator)

Biobank STRUCTURE and FACILITIES:

  • Overarching management of the NCIBB is by the Management Group, which is supervised by Vice Dean of Postgraduate Education and Research and comprises:
    1. The NCIBB Director
    2. Chiefs of the Departments of Pathology, Clinical Pathology, Surgical Oncology, Medical Oncology, Pediatric Oncology, Cancer Biostatistics and Epidemiology, and Cancer Biology.
    3. Chief investigators (CIs) from the grant/s supporting the NCIBB
  • The Management Group is responsible for managing the procedures of biospecimens collection; custodianship of material; monitoring QA programs; auditing and regulatory compliance; endorsing applications for NCIBB materials, monitoring progress of ongoing projects supplied with specimens, managing the sharing of data and findings (ensuring wide dissemination); receipt of complaints; looking after financial obligations and developing methods to ensure financial viability; reporting on financial and activity status to the NCI Board; IP issues; and endorsement of publicity proposals. The day-to-day operations of the NCIBB are performed by an Executive Committee which is drawn from and endorsed by the Management Group.
  • The NCI Board oversees the NCIBB policies and procedures. The NCI Board receives an annual report from the Management Group that includes NCIBB activity (including projects supported), ethical and regulatory compliance, budget and financial status, and details of complaints/disputes. The Board is responsible for ensuring that the Management Group uses fair, equitable and transparent mechanisms; reviewing special cases (applications for material) referred by the Management Group; advising on scientific issues as requested; providing independent advice on conflict of interest issues; and advising in matters of dispute resolution and potential options for long term sustainability.
  • Project applications are independently reviewed by a Scientific/Peer Review Panel comprising experts in cancer research. Reviewers are determined by their expertise in relation to the specific project under scrutiny. The resolution of the Panel is to be projected to the Board of Postgraduate Studies and Research for approval.

SCOPE of SERVICES:

  • The ENCI Biobank has ethical approval to collect surplus tissue for research at the time of diagnostic sampling, and in addition has approvals in place to retrieve and distribute anonymised collected samples and associated data.
  • The data is inputed directly into the information system by the ENCI Biobank staff for all prospectively collected tissue samples. Access to the information system is by individual logins for authorised personnel only.

Biobank STRUCTURE and FACILITIES:

  • Tissue collection, transportation and processing.
  • Anatomic Pathology training.
  • Nucleic acid extraction, measurement and quality assessment.
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