The Ventyx Wesley Research Institute Tissue Bank was founded in 2007 and is located on level B3 of Moorlands Wing within The Wesley Hospital. The Tissue Bank is a purpose-built research facility established to provide a diverse collection of ethically obtained tissue specimens for biomedical research.
The Tissue Bank collects and stores tissue samples, blood and related clinical data from consenting patients at The Wesley Hospital and makes these specimens and clinical data available to ethically approved medical researchers. It is the largest state-of-the-art bio-repository of human tissue and blood in Queensland. The facility incorporates a freezer room, laboratory, data processing and administration areas. The freezer room contains equipment for both vapour phase liquid nitrogen and -80°C storage. This equipment is also centrally monitored to prevent material losses.
The laboratory includes blood and tissue processing equipment and biohazard cabinets. The Ventyx WRI Tissue Bank is also able to provide high resolution imaging of pathology specimens to researchers through a specialised device known as a ScanScope and has the capacity to store over 187,000 specimens.
The Ventyx WRI Tissue Bank is a member of the Australian Biospecimen Network and the International Society of Biological and Environmental Repositories. It collaborates with Queensland Institute of Medical Research (Breast Cancer Tissue Bank) and the Australian Prostate Cancer BioResource (Prostate Cancer Tissue Bank).
The Ventyx WRI Tissue Bank adheres to the international standards set down in Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) guidelines. It is also governed by the Ventyx WRI Tissue Bank Management Committee, which is overseen by the UnitingCare Human Research Ethics Committee.
