[Institutional Biobank as a pillar of medical science]

A biobank facility is one of the most valuable means that academic medical organizations have to offer researchers for improving the competitiveness of their medical research. We describe the implementation of our institutional biobank. Our efforts focused on the design and equipment of work areas, staff training, quality control, bioethical and regulatory issues, generating research collaborations and developing funding strategies. We implemented an institutional biobank at the School of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Mexico. The biobank has supported more than a dozen research protocols with over 3 000 individuals enrolled and almost 6 000 sampled biospecimens stored. The institutional biobank has become an essential bridge and effective catalyst for research synergies between basic and clinical sciences and it is on its way to becoming a National Laboratory.