The German Biobank Node (GBN) will be integrated into the Network of University Medicine (NUM) on 1 July 2025. This decision coincides with last week's approval of the new funding phase of the NUM (NUM 3.0) by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The continuation of the NUM with all contributors, as announced yesterday in the coalition agreement between the CDU, CSU and SPD for the 21st legislative period, thus also opens up a great opportunity for the GBN to continue the successful work of recent years in the NUM on a long-term basis. The merger of GBN and NUM brings together what belongs together – the combined expertise of the biobank community and the German university medical research landscape. As part of the integration, GBN will operate under the new name 'German Biobank Network (GBN)' from July. The German Biobank Alliance (GBA), which is coordinated by GBN, will be part of it and will also use this new name.
Further increasing the utilisation of biosamples and data
"The integration into the NUM is a logical further development of our successful work over the past ten years," says PD Dr. Sara Y. Nußbeck, spokesperson of the GBN executive board. "The close connection to university medicine will further increase the utilisation of quality-assured human biospecimens and associated data for research and improve access for scientists." Dr. Gabriele Anton, GBN board member and co-head of the Biospecimen Hub at NUM, adds: "By integrating the biobanks into NUM, we are not only pooling resources, but also strengthening the collaboration between the biobanks and other NUM infrastructures, such as the data integration centres, in order to be able to offer researchers data and biospecimens from a single source in the future."
GBN: From the beginnings to the central umbrella organisation
Since its beginnings in 2014, the GBN has established itself as the central umbrella organisation for academic human biobanks in Germany. With the founding of the German Biobank Alliance (GBA), which now comprises 36 sites and together provides around half a million biospecimens for research projects every year, the GBN has made a significant contribution to the harmonisation and networking of biobanks. In addition, as a "National Node" of the European research infrastructure BBMRI-ERIC, the GBN is closely integrated into the European biobanking landscape. "Inclusion in the NUM enables an even closer integration of biobanks and clinical research," says Dr. Cornelia Specht, managing director of the GBN. "At the same time, it opens up new potential for the NUM for cross-border exchange of biospecimens and data as well as for joint international research projects."
Integration into the NUM: new opportunities for research and networking
The NUM also sees the integration of the GBN as setting an important course for the future: "Biobanks are essential building blocks for clinical and clinical-epidemiological research," says Ralf Heyder, head of the NUM coordination office. "Combining the resources and expertise of the GBN with university medical research throughout Germany will make an important contribution to the further development of personalised medicine."
Future prospects for biomedicine in Germany
Together with the planned further development of the NUM into a permanent supporting infrastructure for clinical research, the integration of the GBN is a decisive step towards creating sustainable structures for biomedical research in Germany. In the future, researchers from university hospitals, academic institutions and other research organisations will have even easier access to high-quality biospecimens and data.
About the German Biobank Node (GBN)
Under the umbrella of the German Biobank Node (GBN), 36 academic biobank sites and one IT development centre (DKFZ Heidelberg) have joined forces in the German Biobank Alliance (GBA). The GBA biobanks establish uniform quality standards and make their human biosamples and associated data available for biomedical research throughout Europe. As the German representative in the European biobank network BBMRI-ERIC, the GBN promotes the harmonisation and networking of biobanks in Europe. With the integration into the NUM, GBN and GBA will operate under the new name German Biobank Network (GBN) from July 2025.
About the Network of University Medicine (NUM)
Within the NUM, all 37 locations of German university medicine are jointly conducting large interdisciplinary clinical research projects for the first time. Originally set up to coordinate COVID-19 research in German university medicine, today the focus is on the joint collection and use of complex medical research data in a clinical context. The network has established specialised research infrastructures for this purpose.
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