Close collaboration between the Helmholtz Munich Biobank and the DZIF Transplant Cohort
Prof. Dr. Dirk Busch, PD Dr. Michael Neuenhahn, Dr. Daniela Schindler, Dr. Bettina Lorenz-Depiereux, and Dr. Bärbel Fösel during their visit to Munich. In the background: Kathrin Hill and Annika Bruse in front of Brooks’ automated N₂ tank for storing SBS racks from the Tx Cohort.
The DZIF Transplant Cohort (Tx Cohort) provides interested researchers and study groups with extensive medical data on over 3,000 transplant recipients, focusing on infections. The cohort data is particularly valuable because it is accompanied by numerous biological samples. The cohort contains over 209,000 blood samples and over 70,600 other samples for further study.
On February 4, 2026, Prof. Dirk Busch (Chair of the DZIF Executive Board), PD Dr. Michael Neuenhahn, Dr. Bärbel Fösel (Board Representative of the Tx Cohort for the partner site München), and Dr. Daniela Schindler (Project Manager of the Tx Cohort) visited the ↗ Helmholtz Munich Biobank. Using a live storage procedure as an example, the entire process of storing Tx biosamples was demonstrated—from arrival through quality control and verification to secure storage.
In addition to the demonstration of the procedures, the visit also provided an opportunity to discuss new project ideas and future collaboration opportunities with colleagues from the Helmholtz Munich Biobank—Dr. Bettina Lorenz-Depiereux (Operations Manager), Dr. Bärbel Fösel (Senior Scientist), and Hans Demski (IT Data Management). Particular emphasis was placed on the high quality and professionalism of biosample storage and management, which is ensured by state-of-the-art technology and strict quality standards.
The biosamples from the DZIF Transplant Cohort have been stored at various biobanks at the study sites since recruitment began in 2014. In addition to the ↗ Hannover Unified Biobank and local biobanks at the partner sites Heidelberg and Tübingen, the biosamples from the Munich clinics of LMU and TUM are stored in the biobank of Helmholtz Munich (HMGU, Helmholtz Munich Biobank).
The biobank is already working closely with the study centers of the Transplant Cohort in Munich and plans to store biological samples from the partner sites Heidelberg and Tübingen in the future as well. This centralization enables even higher quality assurance, cost efficiency, and faster provision of samples for research requests.
An overview of the available datasets and biosamples can be found on the ↗ Tx Cohort’s interactive dashboard.