Terms & Conditions

NOTICE: FOR AUTHORIZED USERS OF THE eNBB ONLINE SERVICES THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY. PLEASE NOTE THAT USING THIS WEBSITE MEANS THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD AND ACCEPT THESE TERMS & CONDITIONS.

The terms and conditions listed below govern the use of the online services ('e-NBB') provided by the Netherlands Brain Bank (NBB), a department of the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN).

The NBB annually receives and reviews ca. 150 requests for brain tissue from academic researchers and pharmaceutical companies. The NBB follows standard procedures to ensure an effective organization of the tissue transfer process. The NBB has an extensive stock of human CNS tissue samples registered in an electronic database, called the e-NBB, accessible exclusively to registered e-NBB Members Registered e-NBB Members may search the NBB’s collection of brain samples. Samples may then be selected, saved and sent in along with the Application Form. Only after an application has been reviewed and approved, is the applicant granted access to the relevant clinical and neuropathological information of the samples (to be) supplied. Supplementary Application Forms may also be downloaded from the e-NBB.

The outcome of the review process is based on availability of the material and scientific merit of the project. Approval of all requests is at the scientific reviewing committee's discretion.

The Application Form must be filled in in as much detail as possible (research project, type and numbers of tissue blocks or sections, numbers of donors, diagnosis and disease stage, preservation method of the tissue required). Please send the Application Form and your tissue selection to eNBB@nin.knaw.nl. All applications are reviewed by the NBB’s scientific committee. The review process takes approximately four weeks. If your application is approved, you will be informed about the subsequent procedure for obtaining the requested samples and your financial contribution (non-profit € 80,00 per tissue block, 2 ml CSF or plasma, or ten tissue sections and € 40,00 for 1 sample of DNA).

When submitting grants that plan to use NBB tissue, you may contact the NBB first for an estimation of the financial contribution of tissue procurement, which may then be factored into the grant application budget.

Approved applications are assigned a project number, after which the main applicant will have access to the extensive (anonymized) clinical and neuropathological information of the donors whose samples have been supplied. The clinical summary contains, among other things, the cause of death and the medical history (e.g. clinical course and medication use) of the donor.

Limitations

Discussion between applicants and the NBB is encouraged prior to submission of the application. The NBB staff may be able to provide useful advice and expertise on the use of human tissue and tissue availability.

Applicants may need to modify their application before submission, subject to disease category, region and amount of tissue available.

Material Transfer Agreement

The NBB requires a signed Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) to ensure that all conditions for the transfer and the use of the material are agreed upon by the receiving and providing parties. The MTA must be signed by an authorized signatory of the applicant’s university or institute. There will be one master MTA per research institute (legal entity), which will cover all legal terms of delivery and allows all researchers in that particular research institute to apply for tissue.

After a research application has been approved, a Material Transfer Statement (MTS), which is a clear summary of the MTA, will be sent to the researcher along with an Implementing Letter, which specifies the material to be supplied and the financial contribution. Only when the NBB has received the Implementing Letter and MTS, both signed by the applicant, will the material be supplied.

Material Transfer Statement of human brain tissue for research purposes for NBB Applicants

The Material has been obtained on the basis of informed consent, which restricts the use of the Material to research purposes only. It is explicitly prohibited to use the Material for Commercial Purposes.
The Material may not be used for other research than the research specified in the Application Form. The Material may not be distributed to any other party, unless the NBB approves of it after your explicit request.
The Material provided is accompanied by a standard amount of Anonymized Donor Information. The Material is coded with the NBB code. Please note that this code is to be used when referring to NBB material in publications. Additional donor information can be obtained from the Provider. Procedures that might reveal the identity of the donor are prohibited.
At all times does the NBB remain the owner of the Material, including Progeny and Unmodified Derivates (e.g. cells such as primary astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia and neurons, or substances such as DNA or RNA) of the Original Material. Given reasonable grounds thereto the Material can be recalled by the Provider (for definitions of reasonable grounds please see MTA).
Once Material has been used for a research project, it may only be re-used by a third party for other research after said third party has filed a new Application Form with the NBB and signed a separate, new MTA/MTS. No financial contribution is required in case of secondary use of the Material by the third party, provided that third party is a non-profit organization. In case the third party performing the secondary use and/or financing secondary use by the Recipient is a for profit organization, a financial contribution for the secondary use is required.
The NBB requires an annual progress report and a list of publications resulting from the research using the Material for as long as the research with the Material is conducted. The deadline for providing the progress report and list of publications is 31 January.
Additional findings on individual Material which may be relevant for the maintenance and improvement of the collection quality of the NBB (e.g. genotyping) should be made available to the NBB.
Within 30 days after completion of the research project as specified in the Application Form the Applicant must report whether any remaining Material will be returned to the NBB or whether the Applicant will hold this remaining Material in a collection (please see MTA for conditions). Note that the NBB retains ownership rights of the Material and Material held in collections, also after transfer of Material.
The NBB should be mentioned in the Materials and Methods section of all publications resulting from research in which the Material was used, in the following manner: “The tissue and/or CSF were obtained from The Netherlands Brain Bank, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam. All Material has been collected from donors whose written informed consent for brain autopsy and the use of the material and clinical information for research purposes has been obtained by the NBB”.
The NBB must be informed of all inventions made through the use of the Material, prior to the Recipient filing a patent application claiming such inventions.
The Recipient is responsible for all costs, insurance and liability related to transportation of the Material. Recipient must specify a courier of choice and a courier account number prior to the transportation of the Material.
The research must be executed in accordance with all applicable rules and regulations.
The NBB does not knowingly dissect donor material which has been exposed to infectious agents. However, the Material is not tested by the NBB and the NBB cannot rule out contamination. Therefore all Material should at all times be treated as potentially hazardous. All appropriate precautions should be taken to minimize any health risk arising from the use of the Material.
The Material is being supplied without any warranties.
In no event shall the Provider or their staff (directors, representatives, employees, students or assignees) be liable for any use of the Material by the Recipient.

Information on tissue treatment and availability can be found here.