A New Biobank Initiative to Drive Breakthroughs in Clinical Research
The BioResource Research Center serves as a repository for biological samples—including those from COVID-19 patients, staff undergoing health checkups, and residual specimens from gastrointestinal surgeries—that are linked to anonymized clinical data. We spoke with Director Kazuhisa Takahashi about the Center’s biobank project, which supports research through the integration of biological samples and digital information.
The Center was founded to facilitate the research use of various specimens—such as serum, viral samples, and isolated bacterial strains—collected at hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. To advance this goal, the Bioresource Bank Research Support Department, an industry–academia collaborative initiative, was launched in October 2021 to oversee the collection and management of specimens from COVID-19 patients and staff undergoing health checkups. By the end of 2023, the Center had stored a total of 15,259 specimens from staff health checkups, 25,176 COVID-19-related samples, and 23,312 bacterial isolates.
Building on this initiative, the BioResource Research Center officially opened in October 2023. In addition to COVID-19 and staff-derived samples, the Center now stores residual surgical specimens provided by the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery and seeks to develop a system that enables researchers from a wider range of departments and disciplines to access these resources. Looking ahead, the Center plans to centrally manage solid tumor samples collected by the Gynecology, Breast Surgery, Thoracic Surgery, and Otolaryngology departments.
The Center comprises four specialized laboratories dedicated to the collection, infrastructure development, and management of biological resources, each led by an expert in the respective field:
・Advanced Bioresource Laboratory – Responsible for biobanking of biological samples.
・Biological Information Systemization Laboratory – Develops databases linking specimens with clinical information.
・Genetic Analysis Model Laboratory – Conducts biomarker development and genome research.
・Medical Information Utilization Promotion Office – Builds infrastructure for centralized medical data management.
The BioResource Research Center serves as a hub for advancing academic research at Juntendo University. In terms of bioresource utilization, the Center facilitates efficient access to and distribution of banked specimens for research and development, including on-demand banking tailored to researchers’ requests. It also promotes collaborative research both between investigators and clinical departments, and among the laboratories within the Center itself.
In its first year, the Center established a residual specimen storage system in collaboration with the Clinical Laboratory Department, the Diagnostic Pathology Department, and the Information Center, beginning specimen storage after obtaining written consent from donors. Starting in October 2024, the Center has laid out a four-year plan for developing a specimen bank and database framework accessible across the six hospitals and nine faculties affiliated with Juntendo University School of Medicine, operating under a rigorous information management system. In the future, the Center also plans to create a system for collecting specimens from Urayasu Hospital and Shizuoka Hospital and managing them alongside corresponding clinical data.
The Center will further support the research activities of clinicians and researchers working at hospitals and faculties distant from the Hongo and Ochanomizu campuses, facilitating research that transcends individual medical departments and faculties. Of particular note is its collaboration with the newly established School of Pharmacy. The Center’s resources are expected to play a key role in drug discovery research, particularly within the Graduate School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, which is set to open in April 2026.
Juntendo University Hospital, affiliated with the School of Medicine, performs approximately 17,000 surgeries annually—one of the highest figures in Japan. The Department of Gastroenterological Surgery has long collected and stored residual specimens from approximately 800 of these procedures for research purposes and has been developing a dedicated tissue bank. To expand this effort beyond the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, the BioResource Research Center’s Advanced Bioresource Laboratory has launched a collaborative biobank project with the department.
Dr. Atsushi Okazawa, Chief, Genetic Analysis Model Laboratory
The residual samples stored by the Gastroenterological Surgery Department include 10 mm cubic pieces of gastrointestinal cancer tissue, matched normal tissue, and blood samples. Storing these three types together creates a kind of “time machine.” Rapid advancements in testing and diagnostic technologies mean that results unobtainable today may become feasible in the future. Thus, we preserve the samples’ integrity for future high-precision testing by storing them in a -80°C deep freezer.
The Genetic Analysis Model Laboratory is distinct from the other three laboratories at the Center, as it conducts research using clinical samples together with their linked clinical information. Utilizing advanced tools such as next-generation sequencers, the laboratory develops biomarkers and carries out genomic research.
Dr. Yoko Tabe, Chief, Advanced Bioresource Laboratory
When research at Juntendo University involves clinical samples such as blood, the Clinical Laboratory Department supports the temporary storage of residual test samples at the request of various laboratories and departments. However, many surgical departments have independently preserved residual surgical specimens. The Advanced Bioresource Laboratory launched its biobank project by taking over the tissue bank of the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, which had previously maintained a systematized collection of residual surgical samples.
As the number of collected specimens is expected to increase, storage space has been secured across the university, and an organizational system for operations has been established. Moving forward, the Center plans to store clinical specimens from multiple departments in addition to those from Gastroenterological Surgery. Efforts are also underway to collaborate with the Diagnostic Pathology Department, which preserves pathological tissue specimens, and the Clinical Laboratory Department, which manages serum, urine, and other samples.
The Bioinformation Systems Laboratory will collect and organize medical data, link clinical specimens with corresponding information, and advance digitalization efforts.
The BioResource Research Center serves as a core facility supporting research across all departments, faculties, and programs at Juntendo University. While future plans include expanding access to external organizations and companies, initial use will focus on supporting Juntendo’s researchers and clinicians.
In parallel with biological sample collection, the Center is developing infrastructure for the use of clinical real-world data (RWD). Efforts are underway to build a database and develop infrastructure focusing on three key aspects of RWD utilization: collection, use, and management.
Dr. Toshio Naito, Chief, Bioinformation Systems Laboratory
Regarding collection, the Bioinformation Systems Laboratory is leading the development of the necessary infrastructure. The system employs the international standard HL7 FHIR as its communication protocol. To facilitate information sharing among affiliated hospitals, medical record data must be standardized; however, current records differ widely between institutions. Accordingly, parallel efforts are underway to assign accurate codes and ensure consistent matching across hospitals.
Dr. Kazutoshi Fujibayashi, Chief, Medical Information Utilization Promotion Office
The Medical Information Utilization Promotion Office, established in August 2024, oversees the use and management aspects. Aiming for compliance with the Next-Generation Medical Infrastructure Act by FY2025, the office is developing a system to enable both research-oriented and secondary use of medical RWD collected through clinical care and research. While RWD used within research can be approved by the ethics committee under ethical guidelines, applications such as developing artificial intelligence algorithms are considered secondary use, outside of research. We anticipate an increase in AI-related R&D at the university with a view toward social implementation and thus aim to build a management system that adheres to both the Next-Generation Medical Infrastructure Act and the Personal Information Protection Act.
Director, BioResource Research Center, Advanced Research Institute for Health Science, Juntendo University
Dr. Takahashi graduated from Juntendo University School of Medicine in 1985 and earned his Ph.D. from the same university in 1992. After a research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, he held positions including Professor in the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Juntendo University, Distinguished Professor at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University in China, and Visiting Professor at Peking University School of Medicine. He became Director of Juntendo University Hospital in 2019 and assumed his current role in 2021. In April 2024, he was appointed Dean of the School of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine. His research focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory diseases and respiratory malignancies.
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