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Endorise program surpasses 5,000 biobank specimens and ships first samples to startup
Summary
Endorise staff said the Connecticut endometriosis biorepository has biobanked over 5,000 specimens and recently distributed its first samples to Boston startup Mitri Bio; Trinity Health of New England enrollment is complete and Hartford Healthcare onboarding is underway.
Endorise program staff reported at the March meeting that Connecticut’s endometriosis biorepository has reached a key milestone: more than 5,000 biobanked specimens are now available for research, and the repository recently distributed its first samples to a Boston startup, Mitri Bio.
"We have over 5,000 biopecimens that we biobanked that are now being used for distribution for research," said Yasminina, program manager for Endorise. She said that a recent distribution to Mitri Bio — described as a women’s health startup — marks the beginning of external research partnerships and a step toward program sustainability.
Endorise also reported completing enrollment at Trinity Health of New England, including training a clinical research assistant at Trinity St. Francis Hospital on consenting, specimen collection, transport and data linkage. The program said it is in active discussions with Hartford Healthcare to bring that system on board.
Program staff emphasized education and early outreach as part of their strategy, describing school and student engagement (middle and high school) as a priority for reducing stigma and connecting young people to resources and career pathways in science and healthcare. Endorise said it will post recordings and materials from recent legislative breakfast and press conference to its website.
Context and next steps: program leaders said the repository’s growth will support translational research and potential therapeutic development but reiterated the working group’s concurrent effort to secure a distinct budget appropriation for repository activities within the state budget. Members also noted that the Department of Defense included endometriosis on a pre-release list for a congressional research program; the detail was described as preliminary in the meeting.
Endorise encouraged members to help publicize events and the repository’s resources as they work to expand distribution to academic and industry partners.
