The Mazumdar Shaw Medical Foundation (MSMF) is part of Narayana Health, India’s second-largest healthcare provider. MSMF’s mission is to discover new tools to better detect and treat cancer and other diseases. To achieve this goal, they have built a state-of-the-art hospital, the Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center, with integrated research facilities, the Mazumdar Shaw Center for Translational Research (MSCTR).
To facilitate their research, MSCTR established a centralized biorepository that stores over 20,000 biospecimens. They reached out to OpenSpecimen for help in setting up and managing their large and diverse sample collection.
The Challenge: Informatics Platform for Biospecimens and Patient Data
MSCTR faced a common biobanking challenge: the need to collect, analyze, and securely store many different types of samples.
They needed biobanking management software that was easy for scientists from different departments to use. The software had to be compatible with their servers, abide by the institute’s security standards, and have easy, comprehensive reporting capabilities.
“We needed to systematically archive, retrieve and catalog clinical information. The bulk data migration application was a huge advantage of OpenSpecimen considering the large volume of historical data at our center. This option enabled a thorough cleanup of the data and easy and accurate migration into the OpenSpecimen software.”
Amritha Suresh, Principal Investigator, Integrated Head and Neck Oncology, Mazumdar Shaw Medical Foundation
The Solution: Integrated Sample and Data Management
MSCTR decided to adopt OpenSpecimen, a web-based open source biobanking informatics platform, to manage their diverse biospecimen collection. They chose OpenSpecimen because the platform allows data storage, controlled data access, complete sample tracking, unlimited users, and seamless use across multiple research departments.
Biobank Staff at Head and Neck Oncology Biobank using OpenSpecimen to manage his large and diverse patient sample and data collection.
To make the transition to OpenSpecimen as easy as possible, the OpenSpecimen team provided training sessions, help to migrate legacy data from Excel sheets, and configure the system as per local needs.
Benefits of Using OpenSpecimen
OpenSpecimen has streamlined the entire process of establishing MSCTR’s biorepository by enabling researchers to easily annotate, store, retrieve, and ship biospecimens.
“The translational research focus at MSCTR means that most of our work is carried out with patient biological samples. OpenSpecimen is an ideal biorepository management software to tackle large volumes of metadata and provide disease-specific solutions to individual research groups. Access to frequent upgrades and advanced capabilities will, undoubtedly, serve to further improve our biorepository management.” Amritha Suresh, Principal Investigator, Integrated Head, and Neck Oncology, Mazumdar Shaw Medical Foundation
Written by: Srikanth Adiga, CEO, Krishagni
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