The A3BC aims to:

  • Establish a national, open-access (ethics-approved), best-practice biobank network to collect, process and store a broad range of high-quality biospecimens for multi-omic research;
  • Integrate multi-omic data with multiple national datasets, including patient-reported outcome/ experience data (Australian Rheumatology Association Database – ARAD), electronic medical records (~40 hospitals), Commonwealth data (i.e. MBS, PBS) and cancer/death registries;
  • Apply cutting-edge visualisation (dashboards), big-data analytics and machine-learning tools to interrogate these integrated datasets for potential associations/patterns of patient and population significance; and
  • Enable the translation of research discoveries into a comprehensive evidence base for improved musculoskeletal policy/practice across precision and preventive medicine – to give the right care, to the right patient, at the right time!
Cases and Controls
Biospecimens / Samples
Data Collection & Linkage
A3BC Resources Access Process

The A3BC team are actively seeking significant funding from government, industry and philanthropy to invest in supporting and attracting early to mid-career researchers, provide an outstanding research environment for them to thrive, and support them with active and nuanced mentoring to optimise their career progression.

The A3BC headquarters (and lead adult site) are based at the Institute of Bone and Joint Research, a division of the Kolling Institute of Medical Research in Sydney (within the Royal North Shore Hospital precinct), however this is a truly national project and the PI team represent the leading rheumatology research institutes across Australia. Key research and health organisations making up our network nodes include:

  • Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in VIC – also lead paediatric site,
  • University of Sydney’s Westmead Campus in NSW,
  • NSW Health Pathology Statewide Biobank,
  • Diamantina Institute at the University of Queensland,
  • Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation at QLD University of Technology,
  • Basil Hetzel Institute and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in SA,
  • Flinders Medical Centre in SA,
  • Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research (South) in WA, and
  • John Curtin School of Medical Research in the ACT.