Questionnaire on the Human Tissue Bank for Medical Research on Patients and Medical Staff

The Human Science Research Resources Bank (HSRRB) was established in 2000 by the Japan Health Sciences Foundation as the first human tissue bank of Japan for scientific research. With the aim of collection of human tissue for this bank, St. Marianna University School of Medicine established its own institutional tissue bank system and has been supplying human tissues to HSRRB for four years. To promote this banking system, it is important to inform citizens that the utilization of human tissue in medical research greatly contributes to the progress of medicine and welfare for the public. We attempted to determine the present perceptions and feelings of the patients and family members those who participated in this program, and also of the medical faculty of St. Marianna University by questionnaire.Recognition of the human tissue bank was low not only among patients but also among medical staff. On the other hand, the patients and families to whom the coordinator had explained the human tissue bank system well recognized and understood about the program, and they donated their tissue with confidence and full consent.To obtain the citizens trust, sufficient disclosure of information of the tissue bank activities and the achievement of research results must be carried out and in order to do so, it will be necessary to increase the staff in this bank, and maintain proper security of donator privacy.