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The Facility |
 CellBank Australia is located on the premises of the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) at Westmead, NSW.
The facility is operated by CMRI scientists and staff members and is led by its Director, Dr Roger Reddel. Funding has been generously provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council and through a joint venture involving CMRI, the Cure Cancer Australia Foundation (CCAF) and the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). We gratefully acknowledge the partnership of these organisations, which has been essential for CellBank Australia’s development.
The facility handles cells in two purpose-built culture rooms, one for cells entering the repository that have not yet passed quality control, and the other for tested cell lines. Both culture rooms are positively pressured and function as cleanrooms (ISO 14644 class 7). Cultures are grown in separate incubators, handled using set standard operating procedures, and tracked using an extensive database that records all culture-related events. Frozen vials are stored in vapour phase of liquid nitrogen. Equipment is monitored using a state-of-the-art alarm system and vials are stored in multiple storage vessels to ensure their storage long-term. CellBank Australia is a member of the Australasian Biospecimen Network (ABN) and the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER). As such, the facility is aware of best practice in repository management worldwide and strives to meet, or exceed, such best practice guidelines. |
CellBank Australia is funded by an NHMRC Enabling Grant, and as such, has developed policies for equitable access to cell lines and services.
Please click here to view a copy of our Access Policy. |
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