Biospecimen Exchange for Neurological Disorders (BioSEND)

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT We have prepared this application in response to RFA-NS-20-031, which invites applicants to serve as the NINDS Human Biospecimen and Data Repository in Neurological Disorders. The BioSpecimen Exchange for Neurological Disorders (BioSEND) was awarded to Indiana University on September 30, 2015. This application proposes to renew and retain BioSEND at Indiana University and expand the impact and success of BioSEND through additional innovations and improvements. With the transfer of the NINDS-funded biorepository to Indiana University, BioSEND dramatically expanded the number of disorders for which samples are banked. The scope and scale of banking has also dramatically increased with the establishment of BioSEND at Indiana University. The value of the biospecimens banked at BioSEND is demonstrated by the substantial growth in the requests for these samples by researchers. Over the past five years, BioSEND has made 93 distributions to 42 investigators at more than 30 institutions. Indiana University has developed a strong biorepository team consisting of faculty with critical scientific and leadership experience and staff with essential expertise in biobanking, clinical research coordination, and data management. Over the past five years, we have developed a strong infrastructure and implemented a customer- focused approach that employs innovative solutions to both specimen banking and distribution. Based on our success in establishing a widely used biospecimen repository, we plan further improvements and expansion of BioSEND to meet the NINDS mission to increase biobanking to support basic, translational and clinical research in neurological disorders. We propose to pursue the following specific aims for the next five years: Aim 1: Provide leadership to BioSEND Aim 2: Provide study management expertise Aim 3: Provide scientific and laboratory expertise Aim 4: Distribute samples to approved researchers Aim 5: Develop custom solutions to link clinical data with biospecimens