Estonia
The Estonian Biobank (EstBB) is a volunteer-based prospective and longitudinal biobank, maintaining and managing the biological samples and healthcare, lifestyle and omics data of 212,000 biobank participants. Available samples include DNA, plasma and buffy coat cells for all participants, and more sample types for smaller subsets. Available data includes periodically updated health records from national healthcare and other relevant registries, genotyping data from Illumina GSA microarrays and metabolomics data from Nightingale Health for all participants. Smaller subsets of participants have WGS (short-read and long-read), gut metagenome sequencing data, clinical biochemistry measurements, RNAseq and other data. More about BBMRI.ee
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Areas of expertise
Sample and data collection from biobank participants, including initial recruitment as well as follow-up visits for specific research purposes. Recall studies can be conducted based on specific genetic findings or existing diagnoses.
Integration of electronic health records from structured data sources and transformation of more detailed free-form medical records into a research-ready format.
DNA analysis, including long-read whole genome sequencing, genotyping arrays and metagenomic sequencing.
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Achievements
A modernised Bill regulating the Estonian Biobank, enabling opt-in transfer of participant data from the biobank to the healthcare system for personalised medicine services, was drafted in cooperation between the Estonian Biobank and the Ministry of Social Affairs and passed to the legislature for deliberations.
TeamPerMed project started a world-first personalised genetic risk-based study on heart disease prevention using statin therapy. The study involves more than 2500 biobank participants over a 5-year study period.
Estonian Biobank was included in the Estonian research infrastructure roadmap as part of the Estonian Centre for Genomics. This provides funding to improve and modernise the IT infrastructure and access procedures, upgrade automated sample storage systems and supplement the microbiome dataset at the Estonian Biobank in 2025-2029.
Achievements linked to calendar year 2025
