National Liver Disease Biobank
National Liver Disease Biobank was established with the motto "Preserving Today's Samples for Tomorrow's Discoveries". It is a state-of-art biobanking platform dedicated to transform biological samples into solutions for future biological problems. We combine world class bio-specimen management with cutting-edge laboratory technologies to support genomics, translational research, diagnostics and drug discovery.
It has a capacity of 5.2 million samples and analytical facilities including NGS, MS, and FACS. It supports research in molecular pathology and implementation of Quality Assurance practices. It is backed with certifications of CTR.net and ISO 20387:2018. NLDB's biobank management software, the Biobank Information Management System (BIMS) was developed in-house and was registered for Copyright Act 1957. Till date, a total of 4,29,155 aliquots from 52,759 liver patients was collected and stored. Also, an income of 7 crores throughout the last 7 years has been generated. 20,955 samples were provided for 135 research projects. A transient storage facility was provided to 12 researchers; rental storage was provided to 7 institutes; and currently; Project Investigators from 43 institutes are dependent on NLDB services to support their research endeavours.
Services available at NLDB for researchers are as follows:
1. Biospecimen Collection & Biobanking
Ethical, standardized collection of blood, tissue, FFPE, frozen samples, DNA/RNA, serum, and plasma Long-term, secure storage with real-time monitoring and digital inventory tracking
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Sample Dashboard data:
| Diagnosis | No. of Patients | Serum | Plasma | PBMC | SNP Biopsy | RNA Biopsy | FFPE Biopsy | SNP Tissue | RNA Tissue | FFPE Tissue | URINE | FECA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acute Viral Hepatitis | 126 | 378 | 1428 | 302 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 6 | 3 | 982 | 44 |
| Chronic hepatitis | 380 | 376 | 5034 | 993 | 53 | 12 | 0 | 88 | 57 | 23 | 1282 | 80 |
| Alcoholic Hepatitis | 136 | 359 | 1783 | 344 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 39 | 33 | 4 | 714 | 182 |
| Liver Cirrhosis | 9636 | 24444 | 97834 | 14400 | 1493 | 422 | 48 | 3573 | 2611 | 2485 | 52479 | 3949 |
| ACLF | 1704 | 6108 | 19143 | 0 | 419 | 185 | 2 | 153 | 151 | 0 | 13204 | 815 |
| Acute Liver Failure | 637 | 2946 | 7023 | 1825 | 111 | 108 | 2 | 190 | 131 | 12 | 10002 | 164 |
| Autoimm une Liver Disease | 629 | 1198 | 8033 | 1586 | 97 | 23 | 5 | 267 | 162 | 86 | 2624 | 227 |
| Vascular | 561 | 552 | 9494 | 1209 | 55 | 14 | 2 | 59 | 39 | 62 | 1890 | 102 |
| Portal Vein Thrombosis | 137 | 218 | 888 | 157 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 23 | 544 | 34 |
| Liver malignancy | 893 | 2280 | 6747 | 823 | 43 | 18 | 29 | 784 | 463 | 788 | 6982 | 427 |
| Granulo matous Disease | 79 | 105 | 953 | 201 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 24 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 15 |
| DILI | 306 | 776 | 4513 | 936 | 61 | 18 | 3 | 52 | 6 | 2 | 1489 | 83 |
| Healthy donor | 10310 | 15481 | 6152 | 1479 | 45 | 36 | 22 | 192 | 127 | 203 | 2135 | 1575 |
| TOTAL | 25534 | 55221 | 169025 | 24255 | 2433 | 851 | 115 | 5453 | 3798 | 3696 | 94333 | 7697 |
Services Rendered by the department: From January'25 to November'25
| Services (Histopathology) & Flo-cytometry | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| [a] FFPE Blocks | 49 | 88 |
| [b] Unstained slides with blocks | 2967 | 2344 |
| [c] H&E slides | 2977 | 2503 |
| [d] Special stains | 1412 | 1158 |
| [e] Pathological Assessment | 351 | 608 |
| [f] OCT embedding & Cryo sections | 118 | 233 |
| [g] IHC | 320 | 657 |
| [h] FACS (Sorting +Acquisition) | 2280 | 3699 |
| NGS | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| [a] Exome Sequencing test | NA | 1071 |
| [b]NASH/NAFLD | 1335 | 320 |
| [c]Prothrombotic Liver disease Panel | 292 | 91 |
| [d]Hereditary Pancreatitis and Cholestasis | 151 | 245 |
| [e]Somatic oncology panel | 333 | 125 |
| [f] Metabolic liver disease panel | 83 | 33 |
| [g]TATA box for Gilbert Syndrome | 0 | 127 |
| [h]16s rRNA Metagenomics | 852 | 796 |
| [I] Novaseq 6000 utilized by IGIB for single cell sequencing | 4 | 1 |
| [j] Bioanalyzer services to ICGEB | NA | 26 |
| [k] 16s rRNA Library Prep services to IIT Delhi | NA | 36 |
| [l] Whole Genome metagenome sequencing on Promethion, ONT platform | NA | 250 |
| Summary of Samples Shared with Host and Non-Host Institute, Sample type | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| [a] Ascitic fluid | 574 | |
| [b] Buffy Coat | 49 | 38 |
| [c] Solid Tissue | 114 | 65 |
| [d] Liver Biopsy | 14 | |
| [e] PBMC | 172 | 141 |
| [f] Plasma | 1025 | 1781 |
| [g] Serum | 620 | 221 |
| [h] Stool | 296 | 675 |
| [I] Urine | 88 | 262 |
| [j] Saliva | 85 | 0 |
List of Non-Host Institutes for sample sharing collaboration
- 1. Dr. Ujjaini Dasgupta, Amity Institute of Integrative Sciences and Health and Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Panchgaon, Manesar, Gurgaon, Haryana
- 2. Mr. Ali Khan, Koita Research Centre for Digital Health - Ashoka Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University
- 3. Dr. Jawed Iqbal, Multi-Disciplinary Centre for Advanced Research and Studies (MCARS), Jamia Millia Islamia
- 4. Dr. Devram, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi
1. New services & facilities added to the department in 2025
Launched exome sequencing test for ILBS patient Initiated Metagenomics testing for ILBS patients
Instruments:
Novaseq 6000
Oxford Nanopore technology sequencing plateform
MiSeq
Bioanalyzer 2100 High
speed Centrifuge
Thermal cycler
Ice flaker
Biosafety cabinet
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Educational Activities
Details of the Educational activities ( CME/ Conf/ workshop) hosted by the department in 2025 under following headings:
Name of the activity: 1-14th V. Ramalingaswami Oration and Liquid Biopsy Workshop organized by department pathology and Genome Sequencing Lab
Date of the activity: 8th Aug 2025 Brief description: Hands on demonstration of 16s rRNA metagenomics sequencing library preparation activity
2-Oragnized "Scientific talk on Olink proteomics applications in infectious diseases" by Dr Chhagan Bihari on 1st August 2025 Speaker- Dr Ujjawal Neogi, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
3-Organized hands on training of Library preparation for Oxford Nanopore Technology sequencing plateform ONT (Oxford nanopore technology) Training
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Courses offered by the Department
Name of the course:
Hands on training in Biobanking: Biobanking, Cryostorage, Analytical, Pathological and Molecular Techniques, 2 days training and 1 week training
Hands on training in Biobanking, Storage & Analytical Procedure1 month training
Pathological Training : 1 month
Bio-banking Management & Cryostorage Training : 1 month
Till date 49 trainees from various research institutes and organizations have undergone hands-on training at NLDB.
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Department’s Achievements (include Department’s Research activity as well as Residents achievements
Publication-1
Project sanctioned -1
Whole Genome metagenome sequencing on Promethion, ONT platform total samples run 250. Total sequencing services supported project to ILBS PI - 8
- 1- Presented Poster in EASL Congress 2025, Amsterdam, Netherland titled " Baseline oral microbiome composition in liver transplant recipient can help predict graft dysfunction" during 7th May to 10th May, 2025 by Rosmy Babu, Research Scientist.
- 2- Rosmy Babu, Research Scientist, participated in "Genomics India Conference 2025" at IISc Banglore during 12th Aug to 14 Aug 2025
- 3- The department received regulatory approval and grant funding from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for a research project titled "Developing a Culture Independent Rapid Detection Panel of Bacterial Infection in ascitic fluid of decompensated Liver Cirrhosis and Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis
Visiting faculty to the department in 2025 (excluding CME)
Dr. Vainav Patel, Dr. Uddhav Chaudhari, Dr. Vikrant Bhor, Mr. Jagdish Patharvat, & Mr. Kaustubh Ghayavat from ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child Health
Date :03/10/2025
