Fundación Instituto de Investigación Valle de Hebrón_VHIR

Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca-Core Facilities (VHIR-CF) provide specialized services to the scientific community to support preclinical and clinical projects. Two of the VHIR-CF, the Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron Biobank (HUVH Biobank) and the Lab Animal Service (LAS), collaborate with the Platform of Biobanks and Biomodels. The HUVH Biobank is a research support unit that collects human biological samples for biomedical research purposes in compliance with current legislation, and whose objective is to make available to the scientific community the biological material necessary for research in optimal conditions to ensure competitiveness and research excellence. The LAS facilities are divided in two areas: 1) Rodent Area with an standard clean area, a passive quarantine, a barrier area to accommodate immunodeficient mice, manipulation rooms and the Molecular Imaging Platform; 2) the Large Animals Area to accommodate rabbits, pigs and sheep with complete experimental operating rooms to carry out teaching and experimental surgery projects.

Services

BIOBANK
• Advisory services (ethical, legal, technical and methodological aspects of taking human samples)
• Sample traceability services
• Sample processing services:
o Serum and plasma isolation
o DNA extraction (blood)
o RNA extraction (cells and tissues)
o Fluid aliquots (blood, urine, serum, plasma, genomic DNA, cerebrospinal fluid, etc.)
o Freezing tissue samples
o Isolation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)
• Sample storage services (-80ºC and nitrogen tanks)
• Material Transfer Service: samples from our catalog
• Collections of samples of different diseases: include link to the Collections website: http://en.vhir.org/portal1/article_menu_serveis_nf.asp?s=serveis&contenttypeid=293&contentid=28103
o Sepsis Bank
o Lung Bank (samples from lung transplant patients)
o Rare pediatric diseases
o Fetal tissue bank
Laboratory Animal Service (LAS) and Experimental Surgery Unit
• Strict standard conditions of maintenance, care and welfare of animals and also rodents under SPF (Specific Pathogen Free) conditions.
• Breeding of special models.
• Sanitary control and animal quarantine (parasitic, microbiological and virological) according to FELASA recommendations
• Veterinary advice on animal welfare and selection of the most appropriate model conditions, feeding conditions, maintenance and reproduction.
• Veterinary advice and support.
• Professional advice and access to state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to conduct in vivo research.
• Compliance with all legal and ethical regulations related to the use of animals for experimentation and other scientific purposes.
• Control of environmental conditions connected to alarms and regulation.
• Maintenance service 24 hours.
• Environmental and water control.
• Equipment maintenance record.
• Management software.
• Access to handling rooms and common equipment/material.
• Operating room service for experimental surgery and teaching.
• Anesthesia and animal postoperative treatment and monitoring services.
• Sterilization of surgical material.
• Collaboration of LAS service personnel in animal control tasks and specific techniques: product handling, obtaining samples, cell inoculation, blood and fluid extraction, anesthesia, analgesia, euthanasia, necropsy and obtaining samples, hormones, mating , control of mating plugs, weaning, gender separation, surgical processes and assistance in postoperative care.