Shipping and Storage

The BAP Core facility at Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota, was designed and constructed specifically to support sample storage and management. This single, centralized facility provides greater efficiency, increased automation, greater uniformity, and increased standardization of procedures and processes, which means high-quality material for investigators.

The BAP Core offers a variety of sample storage solutions with both conventional and automated freezers. Additional services include cost-effective and secure sample shipment supported by a national network of courier services, as well as custom kit building.

Kit building

Kits for sample collection and processing are prepared to include specific collection containers and processing vials, study-specific paperwork and instructions, and return shipping materials. These kits may be shipped directly to the end user or provided to the study team.

Shipping

International Air Transport Association (IATA)-trained staff prepares samples for worldwide shipment using a variety of courier services. A package may contain multiple samples from multiple patients. Samples can be shipped at ambient, refrigerate or frozen temperatures. For researchers at Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota, movement of samples to another lab within the campus is not considered shipping.

Storage

The BAP Core offers long-term storage of biospecimens and viable cells. Samples can be stored at a variety of conditions including ambient, temperatures of 80°C below zero and liquid nitrogen, with their locations tracked in the Research Laboratory Information Management System (RLIMS). The BAP Core has the capacity to store in excess of 70 million 1.4-mL cryovials. The laboratory freezers are monitored by a TempTrak® freezer monitoring system.