Biobanks and data interoperability in Latin America: engendering high-quality evidence for the global research ecosystem

Currently, each biobank in Latin America operates with its own set of standards for database creation and management, resulting in a lack of regional and international interoperability. Furthermore, regulations concerning data protection, curation, and the transfer of biological samples and associat...

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Main Authors: Erick Valdés, Juan Alberto Lecaros
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-12-01
Series:Frontiers in Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2024.1481891/full
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author Erick Valdés
Juan Alberto Lecaros
author_facet Erick Valdés
Juan Alberto Lecaros
author_sort Erick Valdés
collection DOAJ
description Currently, each biobank in Latin America operates with its own set of standards for database creation and management, resulting in a lack of regional and international interoperability. Furthermore, regulations concerning data protection, curation, and the transfer of biological samples and associated data vary significantly from country to country, by complicating efforts to create a unified data-sharing platform. To address these challenges, Latin America should promote the development of an integrated regional network of biobanks to generate high-quality evidence within the global research ecosystem. This initiative will combine regulatory science—focused on interoperability standards across semantic, technical, legal, and organizational dimensions—and meta-science, which assesses the quality of scientific practice. Evidence indicates that harmonized standards in biobanks lead to higher-quality, more reliable data, thereby facilitating the reproducibility of scientific studies. This paper aims to identify and address existing regulatory, policy, and infrastructure gaps in Latin America to establish harmonized interoperability criteria essential for reproducing biomedical studies. Additionally, it seeks to propose minimum standards for regulating biobank networks, which will promote the development of medical products on a global scale, thereby engendering high quality evidence for the global research ecosystem and enhancing Latin America’s integration into it.
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spelling doaj-art-5154031b05ee4c41b2a05d10ee29d3602025-08-20T02:38:06ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Medicine2296-858X2024-12-011110.3389/fmed.2024.14818911481891Biobanks and data interoperability in Latin America: engendering high-quality evidence for the global research ecosystemErick ValdésJuan Alberto LecarosCurrently, each biobank in Latin America operates with its own set of standards for database creation and management, resulting in a lack of regional and international interoperability. Furthermore, regulations concerning data protection, curation, and the transfer of biological samples and associated data vary significantly from country to country, by complicating efforts to create a unified data-sharing platform. To address these challenges, Latin America should promote the development of an integrated regional network of biobanks to generate high-quality evidence within the global research ecosystem. This initiative will combine regulatory science—focused on interoperability standards across semantic, technical, legal, and organizational dimensions—and meta-science, which assesses the quality of scientific practice. Evidence indicates that harmonized standards in biobanks lead to higher-quality, more reliable data, thereby facilitating the reproducibility of scientific studies. This paper aims to identify and address existing regulatory, policy, and infrastructure gaps in Latin America to establish harmonized interoperability criteria essential for reproducing biomedical studies. Additionally, it seeks to propose minimum standards for regulating biobank networks, which will promote the development of medical products on a global scale, thereby engendering high quality evidence for the global research ecosystem and enhancing Latin America’s integration into it.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2024.1481891/fullbiobanksregulationdata interoperabilityhigh-quality evidenceLATAM biobanks networkreproducibility of scientific studies
spellingShingle Erick Valdés
Juan Alberto Lecaros
Biobanks and data interoperability in Latin America: engendering high-quality evidence for the global research ecosystem
Frontiers in Medicine
biobanks
regulation
data interoperability
high-quality evidence
LATAM biobanks network
reproducibility of scientific studies
title Biobanks and data interoperability in Latin America: engendering high-quality evidence for the global research ecosystem
title_full Biobanks and data interoperability in Latin America: engendering high-quality evidence for the global research ecosystem
title_fullStr Biobanks and data interoperability in Latin America: engendering high-quality evidence for the global research ecosystem
title_full_unstemmed Biobanks and data interoperability in Latin America: engendering high-quality evidence for the global research ecosystem
title_short Biobanks and data interoperability in Latin America: engendering high-quality evidence for the global research ecosystem
title_sort biobanks and data interoperability in latin america engendering high quality evidence for the global research ecosystem
topic biobanks
regulation
data interoperability
high-quality evidence
LATAM biobanks network
reproducibility of scientific studies
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2024.1481891/full
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AT juanalbertolecaros biobanksanddatainteroperabilityinlatinamericaengenderinghighqualityevidencefortheglobalresearchecosystem