Testimonial of a Malaysian histopathologist discovering LPCE Biobank

I’m Dr. Subasri Armon, a histopathologist from Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Thanks to the Giordano fellowship from the European Society of Pathology, I was given the opportunity to pursue my subspeciality training for Molecular Pathology & Biobanking as my area of interest from mid-January to mid-April 2021 in Professor Paul Hofman and Professor Marius Ilie’s lab. The Laboratory of Clinical and Experimental Pathology Biobank, Nice University Hospital, Université Côte ď Azur, France has an outstanding collection of biospecimens from the Thoracic, Head & Neck, Dermatologic and Thyroid specialties. I was trained to all the processes from the reception of the specimens for diagnostic use, to sample collection for biobanking, to the use of the archived biospecimens for molecular diagnostic studies and research. LPCE also has a COVID-19 infectious disease biobank which enabled me to be instructed to the differences in the safety level and set up between both types of biobanks. The biobank is NFS96-900 certified and the laboratory is ISO 15189 accredited, which was very beneficial for me to adopt as their quality management requirements and technical requirements was very well in place. The LPCE Biobank did not just function as a biobank that aids research but they also made their own innovations such as the pneumatic tube method to hasten the cold ischemic time, RFID tracking method to improve their specimen traceability and room-temperature storage method of encapsulated DNA to keep up with the standards of biospecimen duplication while saving storage space and cost. Beyond all this my main goal was to identify methods of sustainability of biobanks which was thoroughly achieved as LPCE Biobank did not just depend on the hospital and government funds but they generated their own revenue by increasing their in-house research and publications in order to receive more yearly grants and also has minimal operational fee charges in place by considering national and international recommendations. Prof Ilie has also gone above and beyond my expectations by giving me a full exposure on the MSc for Biobanks and Complex Data Management lectures given by renowned experts throughout the world and an opportunity to finally test my knowledge and bring home a certificate of achievement. I would like to thank all the staff and my supervisors from the LPCE Biobank for being so patient and ever willing to share knowledge despite their busy schedules, to give me the best learning opportunity and exposure during my training period. I would gladly recommend this integrated biobank and routine diagnostic pathology laboratory exposure to anyone who is looking for an all rounded experience!

My appreciations, Subasri Armon

(from left to right: Pr. Ilié Marius, Dr. Armon Subasri, Pr. Hofman Paul)