Measures of Success: performance criteria for Brain Banks
- 1. Operational data - traceability of tissues, location of tissues, records of disposal and “stock taking performance” - records of cases and their accuracy etc. Transparency in the quality of the clinical data and records that accompany the samples e.g. BDR, cohort or local brain bank cases.
- 2. Tissue quality parameters – pH, fixation time, post-mortem delay and RIN are the agreed minimum data that will be collected for each donation. The agreed definition of post-mortem delay is - the time between death and the stabilisation of the tissue by formalin or freezing. In addition, if available, information on how the body was stored (fridge or room temperature) should be recorded.
- 3. Turnover - number of cases/samples received, stored and provided to researchers. Information on whether this is the whole brain or blocks, if blocks the number and the storage method (paraffin or frozen). Provision of workload statistics to record the time spent on these activities.
- 4. Marketing - marketing research work and evidence that the relevant research community is aware of the resources available.
- 5. Accessibility – what has been done to facilitate access by researchers to tissue samples across the Network?
- 6. Provision of samples - how many projects from the UK and overseas are supported by the brain banks in question and how many samples have been provided to each project? Have any new groups applied for tissue samples? What is the success rate for applications for tissue samples?
- 7. Use of samples - how many papers are published as a result of the brain banking activity and how many patents are generated from this work?
- 8. Industry - the extent of use by industry could also be considered as another parameter.
Specific and timed objectives
Project Area |
Objective |
Deliverable Time Period |
Tissue Procurement – Number of donations frozen |
90% of brains have frozen tissue |
Per Year |
Tissue Processing – Fixed dissections completed |
Average 3 weeks |
After Donation |
Tissue Processing – Fixed blocks processed by |
Average 5 weeks |
After Donation |
Tissue Processing – Primary Histology review carried out by |
Average 12 weeks |
After Donation |
Tissue Processing – Histological staining completed by |
Average 12 weeks |
After Donation |
Clinical/Neuropath Reporting – Report finalised |
Average 16 weeks |
After Donation |
Tissue Requests – Time to notification of researcher by management board |
3 weeks |
After Receiving fully completed application |
Tissue Requests – Supply of tissue to researchers |
Project Specific |
Agreed time frame between TB and researcher |
Tissue Requests – Obtain written report of research carried out on tissue by the researcher |
Project Specific |
6 months after tissue supply (12 months for large projects) |
Public visibility – Talks to patient interest groups/Health Care Professionals |
Project Specific |
Per Year |
Public visibility – Attendance at Scientific meetings to advertise Tissue Bank |
Project Specific |
Per Year |
References - brain tissue use and quality
- Tomita H, Vawter MP, Walsh DM, Evans SJ, Choudary PV, Li J. Effect of agonal and postmortem factors on gene expression profile: quality control in microarray analyses of postmortem human brain. Biol Psychiatry 2004;55:346-52.
- Stan AD, Ghose S, Gao XM, Roberts RC, Lewis-Amezcua K, Hatanpaa KJ, et al. Human postmortem tissue: What quality markers matter? Brain Res 2006;1123:1-11.
- Ferrer I, Armstrong J, Capellari S, Parchi P, Arzberger T, Bell J, Budka H, Ströbel T, Giaccone G, Rossi G, Bogdanovic N, Fakai P, Schmitt A, Riederers P, Al-Sarraj S, Ravid R, Kretzschmar H. Effects of formalin fixation, paraffin embedding, and time of storage on DNA preservation in brain tissue: a BrainNet Europe study. Brain Pathol 2007;17:297-303.
- Ferrer I, Santpere G, Arzberger T, Bell J, Blanco R, Boluda S, Budka H, Carmona M, Giaccone G, Krebs B, Limido L, Parchi P, Puig B, Strammiello R, Ströbel T, Kretzschmar H. Brain protein preservation largely depends on the post-mortem temperature of storage. Implications for the study of proteins in human neurological diseases and for the management of brain banks. A BrainNet Europe Study. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2007;66:35-46.
- Ferrer I, Martinez A, Boluda S, Parchi P, Barrachina M. Brain banks: benefits, limitations and cautions concerning the use of post-mortem brain tissue for molecular studies. Cell Tissue Bank 2008;9:181-94.
- Fraser T, Tayler H, Love S. Low-temperature improved-throughput method for analysis of brain fatty acids and assessment of their post-mortem stability.J Neurosci Method, 2008;169: 135–140.
- Grünblatt E, Monoranuy CM, Apfelbacher M, Keller D, Michel TM, Alafuzoff I, Ferrer I, Al-Saraj S, Keyvanbi K, Schmitt A, Falkai P, Schiienhelm J, McLean C, Halliday GM, Harper C, Deckert J, Roggendorf W, Riederer P. Tryptophan is a marker of human postmortem brain tissue quality. J Neurochem 2009;110:1400-1408.
- Monoranu C, Apfelbacher M, Grünblatt E, Puppe B, Alafuzoff I, Ferrer I, Al-Saraj S, Keyvani K, Schmitt A, Falkai P, Schittenheim J, Halliday G, Kril J, Harper C, Riederer P, Roggendorf W. pH measurement as quality control on human postmortem brain tissue. A study of the BrainNet Europe Consortium. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 2009;35:329-337.
- Durrenberger PF, Fernando S, Kashefi SN, Ferrer I, Hauw JJ, Seilhean D, Smith C, Walker R, Al-Sarraj S, Troakes C, Palkovits M, Kasztner M, Huitinga I, Arzberger T, Dexter DT, Kretzschmar H, Reynolds R. Effects of antemortem and postmortem variables on human brain mRNA quality: a BrainNet Europe study. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2010; 69:70-81.
- Ashby EL, Kehoe PG, Love S. Kallikrein-related peptidase 6 in Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Brain Res 2010;1363: 1-10.
- Sherwood KR, Head MW, Walker R, Smith C, Ironside JW, Fazakerley JK. RNA integrity in post-mortem human vCJD and control brain tissue. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 2011;37:633-42.
- Sherwood KR, Head MW, Walker R, Smith C, Ironside JW, Fazakerley JK. A new index of agonal state for neurological disease. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 2011;37:672-5.
- Durrenberger PF, Fernando FS, Magliozzi R, Kashefi SN, Bonnert TP, Ferrer I, Seilhean D, Nait-Oumesmar B, Schmitt A, Gebicke-Haerter PJ, Falkai P, Grünblatt E, Palkovits M, Parchi P, Capellari S, Arzberger T, Kretzschmar H, Roncaroli F, Dexter DT, Reynolds R. Selection of novel reference genes for use in the human central nervous system: a BrainNet Europe Study.Acta Neuropathol 2012;124:893-903.
- Barker R, Kehoe, PG, Love S. Activators and inhibitors of the plasminogen system in Alzheimer’s disease. J CellMol Med 2012;16:865-876.
- Ashby EL, Love S, Kehoe PG. Assessment of activation of the plasma kallikrein-kinin systemin frontal and temporal cortex in Alzheimer’sdisease and vascular dementia. NeurobiolAging 2012;33: 1345–1355.
- Barker R, Wellington D, Esiri M, Love S. Assessing white matter ischemic damage in dementia patients by measurement of myelin proteins. J Cereb Blood Flow Metabol, 2013 (in press).