As part of the initiatives put forward to find solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fonds de recherche du Québec and Génome Québec have tasked a group of researchers with establishing the Québec COVID Biobank.
The primary objective of this Québec-based infrastructure, which will be governed by a strict legal and ethical framework, is to make available to Québec researchers the samples and data they need to support their research on COVID-19. Additionally, the Biobank will serve to catalyze and facilitate the coordination of research on COVID-19 here in Québec, but also in Canada and around the world.
“This decentralized infrastructure will enable us to pool the research efforts of all institutions in Québec and facilitate partnerships for research on a national and international scale,” said Serge Marchand, Vice President, Scientific Affairs at Génome Québec.
Discussions are underway at the federal level to eventually include this Biobank in a pan-Canadian network. The collection of data and samples will begin on April 1, 2020.