Introduction

•  The Banc de Sang i Teixits is a public company that manages and administers the donation, transfusion and analysis of blood and blood plasma. It also acts as a centre for collecting and processing tissues and is involved in other activities in the fields of immunobiology, molecular diagnostics, cell therapy and regenerative medicine.

The Immunology Laboratory for Research and Diagnostic Applications (LIRAD) is the branch of the Banc de Sang i Teixits responsible for diagnostic services. LIRAD's activities currently include: carrying out, evaluating and interpreting diagnostic tests in a clinical context; acting as a benchmark centre for infrequent tests; designing new tests and protocols; and carrying out research projects. LIRAD works in the following fields:

• • Autoantibodies
• • Allergies
• • Immunochemistry
• • Immunohaematology
• • Lymphocyte phenotyping
• • Functional lymphocyte tests
• • HLA typing
• • Certain molecular genetics tests

Mission

•  To offer a comprehensive service in the field of immunological diagnostic support and in certain areas of molecular genetics by carrying out diagnostic tests, studying problems, designing protocols and projects for the Catalan Healthcare Institute and the Public Hospital Network, and to simplify the process by offering these services through a single organisation.

Quality

•  LIRAD is certified by the LGAI Technological Centre as a centre that meets the ISO 9001 standard.

•  LIRAD is certified by the European Federation of Immunogenetics (EFI) for histocompatibility typing.

•  LIRAD conforms to the control systems of the Spanish Immunology Society and UK NEQAS, as well as many other commercially available quality-control systems.

Technology

•  LIRAD has state-of-the-art immunology and molecular-genetics technologies, including all types of immunoassay, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, cell culture with lymphocyte-function tests, amplification and hybridisation of nucleic acids including real-time PCR, and bioinformatic analysis and sequencing. It also uses microarrays in its research projects.

The difference

•  LIRAD doesn't just carry out diagnostic tests and return the results; it provides a report that makes it easy to interpret the results, which is often crucial to understanding the data. It takes responsibility for comprehensively covering immunology needs.

The catalogue

•  LIRAD has a very large catalogue (close to 300 tests) and is committed to finding a high-quality laboratory to carry out requested tests if they are clinically useful.

The team

•  LIRAD's team is made up of MIR- and BIR-trained doctors and biologists who have studied at the world's best educational establishments. The staff also includes nursing-school graduates and specialists trained at LIRAD with at least three years of experience.

Research

•  All LIRAD staff members are involved in research. However, there is also a team dedicated exclusively to research made up of doctors, pre-doctorate interns and specialists. These individuals are working on a dozen or so research projects financed by leading agencies from different parts of the world: Catalonia (Marató), Spain (FIS, CICYT and Genoma España), Europe (Fifth and Sixth Framework Programmes) and America (Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International).

As a result, the Directorate General for Research of the Catalan Ministry of Universities, Research and Information Society recognises the centre as a consolidated research group.

Innovation

•  In addition to continuously improving its processes, LIRAD holds national patents for two new HLA-typing techniques and, with the help of the Genoma España Foundation, is in the process of applying for an international patent (PCT).

Training

•  LIRAD's professionals are lecturers at the Immunology Department of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where they have important educational responsibilities in the biology, biochemistry, biotechnology and medicine degree programmes.

LIRAD makes major contributions to the Master's Degree programmes in immunology and transfusion medicine at the University of Barcelona and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

LIRAD is certified to train residents.

LIRAD dedicates 5% of its activity to internal training.

Location and scope

•  LIRAD currently has laboratories at Vall d'Hebron Hospital and Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital.

LIRAD provides a complete immunology service to Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital, Verge de la Cinta Hospital and the Healthcare Centres in Robert and Mataró. It carries out tests for over one hundred hospitals and healthcare centres in Catalonia and other parts of Spain.

Information technologies

•  LIRAD has its own UNIX-based IT system, which is capable of exchanging data with other laboratories and publishing results securely on the Internet.