The final nationwide meeting of the BIOFORD project consortium took place on Monday, 1 June 2026, at the Biobank for Cancer and Rare Diseases of the Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University Bratislava (JFMED CU). BIOFORD is the first project in Slovakia dedicated to systematic biobanking, which provides an essential basis for modern diagnostics and personalised medicine.
The 23rd consortium meeting marks the conclusion of a six-year project that was unique in Slovakia and the first to make a significant contribution to advancing science and research. The project has led to progress in targeted diagnostics, personalised medicine and effective preventive measures.
Zuzana Danková, Biobank Director
“For Slovakia and for our faculty, the value of biobanking lies in the ability to collect and properly preserve large numbers of samples, which can later be used to test diagnostic methods quickly. In the past, even when a new diagnostic method was available, researchers often had to wait months or even years to assemble a suitable group of patient samples. With systematic biobanking, the necessary samples can now be available within days,” said Štefan Sivák, Vice-Dean for Science and Research at JFMED CU, describing the main benefits of the project.
Biobanking is an important foundation for any form of clinical research. “High-quality samples mean high-quality research results. This allows us to accelerate our understanding of various diseases, offer new diagnostic options, develop personalised therapies tailored to patients’ needs and support the development of new medicines, bringing enormous benefits for the entire population,” explained Associate Professor Danková.
The JFMED CU Biobank is a nationally significant facility on a par with many biobanks abroad. “In terms of technology and automation, we are even ahead of many of them. In total, we can store seven million different samples,” Danková added. The biobank is now focusing on expanding its repositories and is involved in several major collaborations. It collects samples, for example, through nationwide screening programmes and its systematic cooperation with University Hospital Martin. These collections will be available to researchers across Europe.
The BIOFORD project, co-financed by the European Union and with a budget of approximately EUR 18 million, brought together seven Slovak partners: Comenius University Bratislava, through the Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin and the Faculty of Medicine in Bratislava; the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic; the National Cancer Institute; the University of Žilina; the Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences; the Centre of Social and Psychological Sciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences; and the National Institute of Rheumatic Diseases.
“As partners, we divided the work among ourselves and shared responsibility for advancing science and research in Slovakia,” added Associate Professor Danková.
