Overview
MBioLIMS is a biobanking specimen management system for tracking and documenting the biospecimen lifecycle at UCSF.
This HIPAA-compliant enterprise software tool can be used to manage sample inventory, genealogy, chain of custody, and compliance, including the presence of consent.
MBioLIMS currently contains specimen information for over 300 studies and 50 PIs.
Our objective is to enhance the creation, management, and utilization of high-quality biospecimen data for the UCSF research enterprise by providing sustainable biospecimen informatics systems.
Offerings
Sustainable sample management
Ongoing support of biospecimen informatics systems for ARS and the broader research community. The BSIP team drives the addition of new UCSF-specific product features into each product release.
Data migration
Assisting with the migration of legacy data from old systems to MBioLIMS to ensure seamless transitions and data integrity.
Special projects
End-to-end product feature development and integration with UCSF systems.
Consultation services
Providing expert guidance on system configuration to meet specific research lab needs and ensuring the high-quality capture and storage of biospecimen data.
How to reach us
Resources
Featured projects
The Kober lab research team focuses on using a systems biology approach to improve their understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying common symptoms experienced by oncology patients. The molecular mechanisms can be utilized to determine targets for treatment, which can then be used to identify new drugs or non-pharmacological interventions that can be evaluated in preclinical and clinical studies. Additionally, Kober Lab uses data science and machine learning approaches to accurately predict the severity of fatigue following the administration of chemotherapy using demographic, clinical, psychosocial, and molecular characteristics. These studies are the first to use machine learning techniques to predict evening and morning fatigue severity in the week following chemotherapy from fatigue scores obtained in the week prior to chemotherapy.
Their work in transcriptomics and epigenomics has identified perturbations in inflammatory, neuroendocrine, neurological, and other pathways associated with fatigue and neuropathy. These analyses identified potential targets for therapeutic interventions for these common and devastating clinical problems. These works also provided the foundation for numerous other studies by our mentees identifying genes and pathways associated with shortness of breath, cognitive changes, anxiety, sleep, nausea, and clusters of symptoms. Through their development of new tools and resources, they share their findings with the broader research community with the goal that others may benefit from their usage in their own research projects.
As a smaller lab operation with the goal of adapting its tracking practices to one that is congruent with the broader campus offerings, the MBioLIMS system offered a number of advantages, including centralized deployment, common training for staff members, consistent practice across staff turnover, scalability for future projects, and affordability.
Click HERE to learn more about the research supported by MBioLIMS