Efficiently Maintaining a National Resource of Historical and Contemporary Biological Collections: The NHLBI Biorepository Model

INTRODUCTION Reducing costs by improving storage efficiency has been a focus of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Biologic Specimen Repository (Biorepository) and Biologic Specimen and Data Repositories Information Coordinating Center (BioLINCC) programs for several years. METHODS Study specimen profiles were compiled using the BioLINCC collection catalog. Cost assessments and calculations on the return on investments to consolidate or reduce a collection, were developed and implemented. RESULTS Over the course of 8 months, the NHLBI Biorepository evaluated 35 collections that consisted of 1.8 million biospecimens. A total of 23 collections were selected for consolidation, with a total of 1.2 million specimens located in 21,355 storage boxes. The consolidation resulted in a savings of 4055 boxes of various sizes and 10.2 mechanical freezers (∼275 cubic feet) worth of space. CONCLUSION As storage costs in a biorepository increase over time, the development and use of information technology tools to assess the potential advantage and feasiblity of vial consolidation can reduce maintenance expenses.