Every sample counts.
Please consider donating your samples to Biobank for medical research. It only takes a few minutes to make a lasting contribution.
Brought to you by
Powered by
Please consider donating your samples to Biobank for medical research. It only takes a few minutes to make a lasting contribution.
Researchers use your samples, along with samples from thousands of other people to look for ways to diagnose, prevent, and treat health problems like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
You decide what you would like to donate--a little blood, leftover samples, and/or health data already in your medical records.
Data is what powers ground-breaking research that makes the world healthier. Your data will only be shared with the research study team to gain health insights. We will never sell your data or share your identity. The safety of your data is core to our mission and motivates all of our technical decisions. To learn more read our Privacy Policy.
Medical research requires a lot of samples from a lot of people. The Biobank collects and stores biospecimens like tissue, blood, saliva and urine for future research.
The Biobank serves as a library for researchers to makes thousands of samples and medical information available for researchers in one place.
Researchers at UCSF and their collaborators are using biological samples to look for ways to prevent, detect or treat health problems and improve health.
Who can join?
People of every race, ethnicity, sex, gender, and sexual orientation donate samples. Samples from healthy people and those with health issues are needed for medical research. There are no limits to donating based on health status.
What can I donate?
It's up to you what and how much you share. Leftover samples from routine tests, a little blood and saliva can all be donated to the Biobank.
What medical information do you collect?
We will collect and save information about you like your gender, ethnicity, race, and age. We may also collect information like diagnosis, test results and medications. We will never sell or share your personal information with outside sources.
A biospecimen is any material from the human body, like tissue, blood, skin, saliva and urine. During your surgery or biopsy procedure, some tissue may be removed from your body. This may be for treatment purposes, or the tissue may be removed for diagnostic or preventative reasons. After the surgery or biopsy and after all the tests have been done, some of your tissue may be left over. This leftover tissue may either be discarded or destroyed because it is not needed for your care.
Your care is always our first priority. Any biospecimen removed from your body will always be used first and foremost to find exactly what, if anything, is wrong with you and how you can be treated.
A Biobank is a collection of biospecimens and health data that serves as a library for researchers. These collections include human samples, such as; tissue, blood, saliva, and urine. Specimens are gathered and processed to ensure quality and safety while complying with strict ethical guidelines.
The UCSF Biobank ensures that each donated biospecimen is preserved, available, and effectively used for meaningful research.
The Biobank is only collecting specific specimens for research. These collections include:
Please keep in mind that the Biobank only collects what you are willing to provide.
UCSF is working to improve health care through research. By providing your medical information and samples to the Biobank, we are able create more opportunities like:
In the past, the Biobank has helped researchers discover therapy drugs for cancer and heart disease. Biospecimens from patients, like you, have been a huge help for clinical trials for these types of therapy discoveries. Without them, researchers would not be able to understand these diseases and come up with treatment options for them.
Many different kinds of studies may be done on human biospecimens. Some researchers may be able to develop new ways to treat or cure diseases. Other researchers may wish to find out if there are diseases that may be passed on in families (genetic research). Some of the researchers may help to develop new products, such as drugs and tests for diseases.
Anyone undergoing treatment at UCSF can become a biospecimen donor. Your doctor may ask you to donate your biospecimens whether or not you are in good health. If you donate your biospecimens, they will be transferred to the UCSF Biobank. If a researcher wishes to study your biospecimens, then he or she will ask the Biobank for a biospecimen sample. We will not give researchers your name, address, phone number or any other information that would identify you.
Health information: We will collect and save information like your gender, ethnicity, race and age (if less than 85). We may also collect information about your medical record.*If you are not a UCSF Health patient, we will ask you for this information.Private medical information: Genetic test results, drug or alcohol use, and HIV status require a separate form: the HIPAA authorization form.*With your permission on HIPAA, we will update your record.Sharing information with researchers: Genetic information taken from the biospecimens (a.k.a. genotype data) and the medical record data (a.k.a. phenotype data) will be de-identified and shared in coded form.
Yes, we are looking for all types of samples to help researchers learn more about diseases.
The UCSF Biobank wants to ensure you are okay with donating your samples and use them for research purposes, so your consent is very important. If you do not sign off on it, the Biobank can not use your samples.
The biospecimens will be used primarily by researchers at UCSF. However, there may also be collaborative efforts with other universities and commercial companies outside of UCSF.
These biospecimens may be kept indefinitely.
Neither you nor your doctor will receive the results of research done with your biospecimens. This is because research can take a long time and must use biospecimen samples from many people before results are known. Results from research using your biospecimens may not be ready for many years and will not affect your care right now, but the results of the research may be helpful to people like you in the future. For these reasons, the results will not appear in your medical records.
In order to understand the significance of the research done on your biospecimens, researchers may need to know some things about you, for example, your gender, your age, your health history, and your family history. The information from your medical records will be given to the researchers by the Biobank records staff. However, as mentioned before, we will not give researchers your name, address, phone number or any other information that would identify you.
Your privacy will be protected as much as possible. The people in charge of the UCSF Biobank will take careful steps to prevent any private information about you, such as your name, address, or phone number from being released to anyone. The Biobank will remove any identifying personal information and assign a unique code number to your sample or any records associated with your biospecimens before they are released. This would make it very difficult for any research results to be linked to you or your family.
We take your privacy seriously and have taken steps to protect your information in secure databases. When donating,
There will be no costs to you if you agree to donate your biospecimens for research. Nor will you receive any money for donating your biospecimens. Even if the researchers are able to develop new products from the use of your biospecimen, you will not receive any money for your biospecimen donation.
There will be no direct medical or personal benefit to you as a result of donating your biospecimens. However, the researchers hope to learn from this research and be able to help others in the future.
Yes, we need to have contact information in order to proceed with this study. Otherwise, we have no way to allow you to participate.
Yes, you may change how you participate or stop participating all together at any time by changing your preference on the Eureka platform. Any remaining biospecimens in the Biobank or biospecimens that are in possession of the researchers will be destroyed immediately. However, if any research has already been done using portions of your biospecimens, the data will be kept and analyzed as part of those research studies. There is no penalty or loss of benefits when changing or canceling your participation.
If you have more questions about biospecimen donation, then please talk to your doctor or nurse. You may also email JoinBiobank@ucsf.edu to request for Biobank staff to contact you.If you have questions regarding your rights to participate in research you may call the Office of the Committee on Human Research at (415) 476-1814 or write to the Committee on Human Research at UCSF, Box 0962, San Francisco, CA 94143. The Committee on Human Research is concerned with the protection of the rights of people who volunteer to participate in human research.