A biobank is a structured resource that holds human biological samples and/or data to facilitate research over time. We use the term “biobank” broadly to cover a range of research resources that are sometimes referred to using different terms. (See Appendix A) We thus define biobank to include archived datasets as well as repositories of biological samples maintained for future research use. We also include biobanks set up to associate genotype information with phenotype, such as biobanks that link human genomics to electronic medical records (EMRs), biobanks that link genomic data to neuroimaging scans or other non-genomic data sources, and biobanks that analyze environmental samples or data in relation to human genomics.
