Agreement signed between the Italian nodes of the Research Infrastructures BBMRI and ELIXIR (BBMRI.IT and ELIXIR.IT) to promote synergies for Biomedical Research in Italy

We are pleased to announce the signing of a strategic collaboration agreement between BBMRI.it, the Italian Node of the Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure, and ELIXIR-IT, the Italian Node of the European ELIXIR Infrastructure, dedicated to Bioinformatics and Life Sciences.

This strategic collaboration marks a significant milestone in advancing Italian biomedical research and opening new perspectives for the integrated analysis of biological “big data” and the development of precision medicine.

The Parties commit to advance the integrated analysis of biological “big data”, collected and characterized in biobanks, and to promote  the sharing of specialized knowledge and expertise in leveraging  bioinformatics and biobank resources as an indispensable tool  for innovation in the field of  precision medicine.

One of the primary objectives of the agreement is to foster the collaboration between the national biobank system and ELIXIR-IT Platforms, with a strong emphasis  on ensuring security and control measures for accessing sensitive data used in precision medicine applications. Additionally, BBMRI.it and ELIXIR-IT will collaborate to implement  shared access policies and develop interoperable  infrastructures, in  alignment  with the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) strategies. The partnership will also work towards promoting best practices in addressing ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) related to data sharing, particularly when handling human biological data.

The agreement, initially established  for a duration of three years, encompass  joint training activities and the signing of specific agreements to outline the operational modalities and conditions of the collaboration.

“This collaboration between BBMRI.it and ELIXIR-IT represents a significant opportunity to strengthen the competitiveness of italian scientific research and to contribute to the advancement of precision medicine, which is essential for ensuring the sustainability of healthcare systems at both the national and European levels”  say Prof. Graziano Pesole, Head of the Italian Node of ELIXIR, and Prof. Marialuisa Lavitrano, Coordinator of the Italian Node of BBMRI.