[Biobanking in internal medicine : Structures, opportunities and cultural responsibility]

Internal medicine is a medical discipline characterized by a high degree of complexity and interdisciplinarity. The focus of current health challenges is the aim to understand common and rare diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases or malignancies, in terms of their multifactorial causes and biological heterogeneity. This poses enormous medical and economic tasks to the healthcare system. Internal medicine is characterized by a close integration of patient care, pathophysiological research and evidence-based treatment. To investigate disease mechanisms and to develop individualized prevention and treatment measures, modern research approaches from molecular medicine, omics technologies and digital innovations are available. Access to high-quality, well-characterized biosamples that are linked to clinical data is an essential prerequisite for scientific progress. This is where academic biobanks play a crucial role. They systematically collect biological specimens such as blood, plasma, DNA or tissue and link them to detailed clinical, biochemical, genetic, histopathological, imaging and lifestyle-related data. Biobanking has become established as a sustainable research infrastructure embedded in the scientific culture of internal medicine, supporting continuous knowledge derived from patient care and ensuring long-term usability.