FIMM Technology Centre at the University of Helsinki provides method development and biomedical research services for national and international research groups, companies and hospitals. The core units are professionally run and led by technology experts and high quality of the services is our main priority.
As part of the H2020 INFRADEV project EATRIS-Plus, FIMM Technology Centre has recently participated in proficiency testing modules offered by the Integrated Biobank Luxembourg (IBBL). IBBL’s Biospecimen Proficiency Testing program is an external quality assessment tool to verify the precision and accuracy of biospecimen testing methods, and the efficiency of processing methods.
One of the FIMM Technology Centre units, HiPrep core headed by Maija Puhka, took part in the testing. The testing included four different RNA extraction related modules: cell-free RNA (cfRNA) Extraction from Plasma, RNA Extraction from Whole Blood, RNA Extraction from formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) Tissue Material, and Total RNA Extraction from Frozen Tissue. Each module consisted of 2-6 individual assays per sample type that assessed the yield, purity and integrity of RNA.
The results indicated that the quality of the RNA extractions was very satisfactory, and HiPrep received a status as certified laboratory for these modules.