ESBB COVID-19 Survey - To be completed by May 4th

Dear members, partners and friends of ESBB,

We highly appreciate you taking the time to answer this survey which will take about 10 minutes for 48 questions. This survey should help us all to understand and learn about shortcomings, needs and strategies for the biobank community in such an unprecedented challenging and difficult time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Biobanks can play a significant role in providing samples and data for COVID-19 associated research in order to overcome this devastating pandemic. Thus, guaranteeing our biobanks’ functionality during this and potentially future crises is fundamental.

This survey is fully anonymous. However, in case you are interested in getting engaged in our ESBB COVID-19 Task Force, please e-mail our ESBB office at ESBB@mci-group.com. The results of this survey will be shown on our website (www.esbb.org) and may lead to a scientific publication or white paper. Your feedback to the survey and specifically your free text reply at the end of the survey may direct us to develop tools and support or bring clarity to meet your particular COVID-19 needs.

Please make sure to answer this Survey by April 30th!

Question Title

* 1. Are you a (please tick all that apply)

a) Biobanker

b) Scientist

c) Clinician

d) Nurse

e) Technician

f) Patient

g) Citizen

h) Vendor

i) Other (please specify) :

Question Title

* 2. If you are a clinician, nurse or technician, are you working in

a) a COVID-19 emergency room / Triage

b) a COVID-19 intensive care unit

c) an infection/microbiology department

d) a clinical chemistry / central laboratory department

e) a pathology department

f) Other (please specify) :

Question Title

* 3. In this survey, are you representing a/an (please tick all that apply)

a) Non-Profit Biobank

b) Commercial Biobank

c) Academic Institution

d) Life Science Industry

e) Medical Technology Industry

f) Pharma Industry

g) Hospital

h) Other healthcare provider: please specify

i) Patient organisation

j) Other Institution (please specify) :

Question Title

* 4. If you are working in a biobank, how is your biobank best described? (please tick all that apply)

a) Hospital-integrated

b) Disease oriented

c) Reproduction

d) Cell-lines

e) Population-based

f) Museum

g) Environmental

h) Agriculture

i) Plants, Crops, Botanic garden

j) Animal – Domestic

k) Animal – Wildlife

l) Other (please specify) :

Question Title

* 5. How long have you been working in the respective biobank or other field?

a) < 5 years

b) 5 – 10 years

c) 11 – 20 years

d) > 20 years

Question Title

* 6. In which geographical region according to the United Nations is your institution located?

a) Northern America

b) Central America

c) Caribbean

d) South America

e) Northern Europe

f) Western Europe

g) Southern Europe

h) Eastern Europe

i) Northern Africa

j) Western Africa

k) Middle Africa

l) Eastern Africa

m) Southern Africa

n) Western Asia

o) Central Asia

p) Southern Asia

q) Eastern Asia

r) Southeastern Asia

s) Australia and New Zealand

t) Micronesia

u)Melanesia

v) Polynesia

Question Title

* 7. What is your highest degree:

a. Bachelor / Undergraduate

b. Master / Diploma

c. MD / DVM / PhD

d. Professor

e. Other (please specify) :

Question Title

* 8. How old are you?

a) < 20 years

b) 20 – 29 years

c) 30 – 39 years

d) 40 – 49 years

e) 50 – 59 years

f) 60 – 69 years

g) > 70 years

Question Title

* 9. Are you a member of

a) ESBB

b) BBMRI

c) ISBER

d) Other association, please specify:

Question Title

* 10. Now we’d like to hear about your experiences during the COVID-19 crisis.

Was your working place operational all the time since COVID-19 crisis started?

a) Yes

b) Yes, but only for COVID activity

c) Partial

d) No

Question Title

* 11. In case your working place was shut down due to the COVID-19 crisis, for how long?

a) < 2 weeks

b) 2 – 4 weeks

c) 1 – 2 months

d) > 2 months

Question Title

* 12. Was your work affected by other restrictions than shut down?

a) No

b) Home office

c) Reduced working hours

d) Transfer of staff to other places in the institute

e) Other (please specify) :

Question Title

* 13. Now we’d like to hear about COVID-19 effects on biobanking.

Is your biobank by law/regulations allowed to collect/store COVID-19 samples?

a) Yes

b) No

c) I am not sure

Question Title

* 14. Does your biobank collect COVID-19 samples?

a) Yes

b) Plan to do so

c) No, please specify why:

Question Title

* 15. If your biobank is involved in COVID-19 collections, to what extend (please tick all that apply)

a) Logistic organisation

b) Obtaining ethics approval

c) Obtaining patients’ consent

d) Sampling

e) Sample processing

f) Sample transport

g) Sample storage

h) Sample distribution

i) Clinical data capturing

j) Clinical data transmission to national/international registries

Other (please specify) :

Question Title

* 16. Why do you think your biobank is involved in COVID-19 sampling? (please tick all that apply)

a) Due to existing expertise in collection logistics

b) Due to available SOPs for sampling and processing

c) Due to validated methods of collection, storage (QM, QC)

d) Due to storage capacities

e) Due to biosafety level approval

f) Due to the use of broad consent

g) Due to experience with consent handling

h) Due to qualifications for shipments (IATA)

e) Other (please specify) :

Question Title

* 17. What are the difficulties you encountered? (please tick all that apply)

a) Too many requests for the same sample/sample type per patient

b) Obligation to stop other projects due to COVID-19 work restrictions

c) Obligation to stop other projects due to overwhelming work load for COVID-19 collections

d) Not enough staff resources in the biobank

e) Not enough staff resources in the clinic

f) Shortage or delay for protection gear

g) Shortage or delay for consumables

h) Not sufficient storage capacities due to the exponential grow of COVID-19 samples

i) Interdisciplinary organisation

j) Ethics approvals

k) Patient consenting

l) Data protection regulations

m) Other (please specify) :

Question Title

* 18. Does your biobank actually collect COVID samples (please tick all that apply)

a) with broad consent

b) specific consent

c) without consent (waiver)

Question Title

* 19. Does your biobank plan to collect COVID samples (please tick all that apply)

a) With broad consent

b) Specific consent

c) Without consent (waiver)

Question Title

* 20. How is your interaction with the local ethics committee to act on COVID-19 ethics approvals and/or guidance best described:

a) Excellent

b) Good

c) Poor

Question Title

* 21. How fast did your local ethics board react to requests/ethical applications?

a) Very quick (within 24 hours)

b) Quick (within one week)

c) Slow (more than one week)

d) Very slow (more than a month)

Question Title

* 22. Does your biobank collect (please tick all that apply)

	Yes	Plan to do so	No
a) Neonate COVID-19 positive samples	a) Neonate COVID-19 positive samples Yes	a) Neonate COVID-19 positive samples Plan to do so	a) Neonate COVID-19 positive samples No
b) Paediatric COVID-19 positive samples	b) Paediatric COVID-19 positive samples Yes	b) Paediatric COVID-19 positive samples Plan to do so	b) Paediatric COVID-19 positive samples No
c) COVID-19 positive samples from oncology patients	c) COVID-19 positive samples from oncology patients Yes	c) COVID-19 positive samples from oncology patients Plan to do so	c) COVID-19 positive samples from oncology patients No
d) COVID-19 positive samples from cardiology patients	d) COVID-19 positive samples from cardiology patients Yes	d) COVID-19 positive samples from cardiology patients Plan to do so	d) COVID-19 positive samples from cardiology patients No
e) COVID-19 positive samples from diabetic patients	e) COVID-19 positive samples from diabetic patients Yes	e) COVID-19 positive samples from diabetic patients Plan to do so	e) COVID-19 positive samples from diabetic patients No
f) COVID-19 positive samples from immune disease patients	f) COVID-19 positive samples from immune disease patients Yes	f) COVID-19 positive samples from immune disease patients Plan to do so	f) COVID-19 positive samples from immune disease patients No

g) COVID-19 positive samples from patients with other co-morbidities, Please specify:

Question Title

* 23. If you actually collect COVID-19 samples, what type? (please complete all that apply)

a) Serum

b) EDTA-Plasma

c) Citrated-Plasma

d) LiHep-Plasma

e) PBMCs

f) stabilized whole blood like PaxGene or others

g) EDTA blood

h) EDTA blood with 10% DMSO

i) Heparin blood

j) Heparin blood with proteomic stabilize

k) Swabs (nasal and/or throat)

l) Sputum

m) Tracheal secretion

n) Buffy Coat

o) Urine

p) Stool

q) Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL)

r) Other

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 24. If you plan to collect COVID-19 samples, what type? (please complete all that apply)

a) Serum

b) EDTA-Plasma

c) Citrated-Plasma

d) LiHep-Plasma

e) PBMCs

f) Stabilized whole blood like PaxGene or others

g) EDTA blood

h) EDTA blood with 10% DMSO

i) Heparin blood

j) Heparin blood with proteomic stabilizer

k) Swabs (nasal and/or throat)

l) Sputum

m) Tracheal secretion

n) Buffy Coat

o) Urine

p) Stool

q) Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL)

Other (please specify) :

Question Title

* 25. Do you perform longitudinal sampling for COVID-19 patients?

a) Yes

b) Plan to do so

c) No, please specify why not:

Question Title

* 26. If yes, how often do you sample subsequently from the same patient?

a) 2x

b) 3x

c) >3x

Question Title

* 27. Is your sampling strategy for COVID-19 harmonized with other biobanks?

a) No

b) Plan to do so

c) Yes, with other national biobanks

d) Yes, with national research networks

e) Yes, with international biobank networks

f) Yes, with international research networks

Any further comments:

Question Title

* 28. Would your COVID-19 samples be available for external research projects?

a) Yes

b) Plan to do so

c) No

Question Title

* 29. If yes, would your COVID-19 samples also be available for industry projects?

a) Yes

b) Plan to do so

c) No

Question Title

* 30. Are you collecting clinical data parameters with the samples?

a) No

b) Plan to do so

c) Yes: < 10

d) Yes: 10 – 25

e) Yes: 26 - 49

f) Yes: 50 – 99

g) Yes: 100 – 249

h) Yes: 250 – 499

i) Yes: > 500

Question Title

* 31. Do you submit COVID-19 data to national registries?

a) No

b) Plan to do so

c) Yes

Please specify :

Question Title

* 32. Do you submit COVID-19 data to international registries?

a) No

b) Plan to do so

c) Yes

Please specify:

Question Title

* 33. Do you submit COVID-19 data to the LEOSS (Lean European Open Survey on SARS-CoV-2 Infected Patients) register?

a) Plan to do so

b) Yes

c) No

Please specify :

Question Title

* 34. Do you receive any additional funding specific for COVID-19 biobanking? (please tick all that apply)

a) No

b) Applied for

c) Yes: institutional

d) Yes: regional

e) Yes: national

f) Yes: international

Question Title

* 35. We are further interested to understand more about the security measures you take for sampling, processing, and storage.

Do you need a certain safety level to store your samples due to regulations?

a) No

b) Biosafety Level 1

c) Biosafety Level 2

d) Biosafety Level 3

e) Biosafety Level 4

Question Title

* 36. Do you need a certain safety level for sample processing (e.g., extract PBMCs or DNA from sputum) due to regulations?

a) No

b) Biosafety Level 1

c) Biosafety Level 2

d) Biosafety Level 3

e) Biosafety Level 4

Question Title

* 37. Does your biobank need to collaborate with other institutes for sample processing due to regulations, e.g., as your facility does not have the required safety level?

a) No

b) Yes: intern

c) Yes: extern

Question Title

* 38. At what temperatures do you store your samples? (please tick all that apply)

a) -20°C

b) -80°C

c) -150°C

d) LN2 liquid

e) LN2 vapour

Question Title

* 39. Now we want to hear about your supplies during the COVID-19 crisis.

Did you, and do you still, have sufficient self-protection available?

	Yes	No
a) Surgical mask?	a) Surgical mask? Yes	a) Surgical mask? No
b) FFP2 mask?	b) FFP2 mask? Yes	b) FFP2 mask? No
c) FFP3 mask?	c) FFP3 mask? Yes	c) FFP3 mask? No
d) Protective gear?	d) Protective gear? Yes	d) Protective gear? No
e) Gloves?	e) Gloves? Yes	e) Gloves? No
f) Disinfectant?	f) Disinfectant? Yes	f) Disinfectant? No

g) Would you like to comment in more detail? please specify:

Question Title

* 40. Did you experience any shortcomings for self-protection gear?

a) No

b) Yes: please specify for which item and for how long

Question Title

* 41. Did you experience any shortcomings on consumables, e.g., tubes, kits, reagents for sample processing/storage?

a) No

b) Yes: please specify for which item and for how long

Question Title

* 42. Now we’d like to understand what you would expect from our ESBB COVID Task Force.

Would you like to be part of our ESBB COVID-19 Task Force:

a) Yes

b) No

Question Title

* 43. What would you expect from our ESBB COVID-19 Task Force: (please tick all that apply)

a) Webinar with open discussion, experience exchange, and questions without formal agenda

b) Webinar with keynote or state-of-the-art presentations

c) Educational Webinar dedicated to specific COVID-19 topics

d) Please specify topics of your interest or other ideas:

Question Title

* 44. How often would you like to have a COVID-19 Webinar?

a) Weekly

b) Bi-weekly

c) Monthly

d) Quarterly

Question Title

* 45. What would be your preferred day of the week for such a webinar? (please tick all that apply)

a) Monday

b) Tuesday

c) Wednesday

d) Thursday

e) Friday

Question Title

* 46. What would be your preferred time of the day for such a webinar? (please tick all that apply)

a) Between 07:00 – 09:00 CET

b) Between 08:00 – 10:00 CET

c) Between 09:00 – 11:00 CET

d) Between 10:00 – 12:00 CET

e) Between 11:00 – 13:00 CET

f) Between 12:00 – 14:00 CET

g) Between 13:00 – 15:00 CET

h) Between 14:00 – 16:00 CET

i) Between 15:00 – 17:00 CET

j) Between 16:00 – 18:00 CET

k) Between 17:00 – 19:00 CET

l) Between 18:00 – 20:00 CET

Question Title

* 47. How long should such a webinar ideally last:

a) 0.5 hour

b) 1.0 hour

c) 1.5 hour

d) 2.0 hours

e) 2.5 hours

Other (please specify) :

Question Title

* 48. Please use the space below to suggest or comment on anything we might have missed to ask and/or what you deem being crucial to support the biobank community, clinicians, nurses, and patients overall.

ESBB COVID-19 Survey - To be completed by May 4th

Question Title

* 1. Are you a (please tick all that apply)

Question Title

* 2. If you are a clinician, nurse or technician, are you working in

Question Title

* 3. In this survey, are you representing a/an (please tick all that apply)

Question Title

* 4. If you are working in a biobank, how is your biobank best described? (please tick all that apply)

Question Title

* 5. How long have you been working in the respective biobank or other field?

Question Title

* 6. In which geographical region according to the United Nations is your institution located?

Question Title

* 7. What is your highest degree:

Question Title

* 8. How old are you?

Question Title

* 9. Are you a member of

Question Title

* 10. Now we’d like to hear about your experiences during the COVID-19 crisis.Was your working place operational all the time since COVID-19 crisis started?

Question Title

* 11. In case your working place was shut down due to the COVID-19 crisis, for how long?

Question Title

* 12. Was your work affected by other restrictions than shut down?

Question Title

* 13. Now we’d like to hear about COVID-19 effects on biobanking.Is your biobank by law/regulations allowed to collect/store COVID-19 samples?

Question Title

* 14. Does your biobank collect COVID-19 samples?

Question Title

* 15. If your biobank is involved in COVID-19 collections, to what extend (please tick all that apply)

Question Title

* 16. Why do you think your biobank is involved in COVID-19 sampling? (please tick all that apply)

Question Title

* 17. What are the difficulties you encountered? (please tick all that apply)

Question Title

* 18. Does your biobank actually collect COVID samples (please tick all that apply)

Question Title

* 19. Does your biobank plan to collect COVID samples (please tick all that apply)

Question Title

* 20. How is your interaction with the local ethics committee to act on COVID-19 ethics approvals and/or guidance best described:

Question Title

* 21. How fast did your local ethics board react to requests/ethical applications?

Question Title

* 22. Does your biobank collect (please tick all that apply)

Question Title

* 23. If you actually collect COVID-19 samples, what type? (please complete all that apply)

Question Title

* 24. If you plan to collect COVID-19 samples, what type? (please complete all that apply)

Question Title

* 25. Do you perform longitudinal sampling for COVID-19 patients?

Question Title

* 26. If yes, how often do you sample subsequently from the same patient?

Question Title

* 27. Is your sampling strategy for COVID-19 harmonized with other biobanks?

Question Title

* 28. Would your COVID-19 samples be available for external research projects?

Question Title

* 29. If yes, would your COVID-19 samples also be available for industry projects?

Question Title

* 30. Are you collecting clinical data parameters with the samples?

Question Title

* 31. Do you submit COVID-19 data to national registries?

Question Title

* 32. Do you submit COVID-19 data to international registries?

Question Title

* 33. Do you submit COVID-19 data to the LEOSS (Lean European Open Survey on SARS-CoV-2 Infected Patients) register?

Question Title

* 34. Do you receive any additional funding specific for COVID-19 biobanking? (please tick all that apply)

Question Title

* 35. We are further interested to understand more about the security measures you take for sampling, processing, and storage.Do you need a certain safety level to store your samples due to regulations?

Question Title

* 36. Do you need a certain safety level for sample processing (e.g., extract PBMCs or DNA from sputum) due to regulations?

Question Title

* 37. Does your biobank need to collaborate with other institutes for sample processing due to regulations, e.g., as your facility does not have the required safety level?

Question Title

* 38. At what temperatures do you store your samples? (please tick all that apply)

Question Title

* 39. Now we want to hear about your supplies during the COVID-19 crisis.Did you, and do you still, have sufficient self-protection available?

Question Title

* 10. Now we’d like to hear about your experiences during the COVID-19 crisis.

Was your working place operational all the time since COVID-19 crisis started?

* 13. Now we’d like to hear about COVID-19 effects on biobanking.

Is your biobank by law/regulations allowed to collect/store COVID-19 samples?

* 35. We are further interested to understand more about the security measures you take for sampling, processing, and storage.

Do you need a certain safety level to store your samples due to regulations?

* 39. Now we want to hear about your supplies during the COVID-19 crisis.

Did you, and do you still, have sufficient self-protection available?

* 42. Now we’d like to understand what you would expect from our ESBB COVID Task Force.

Would you like to be part of our ESBB COVID-19 Task Force: