About the client

University College London’s Queen Square Institute of Neurology (QSBB) holds a globally unique archive of brains and tissue donated by individuals with neurodegenerative diseases. The archive is a vital resource for research into conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurological disorders.

The challenge

QSBB required a secure and scalable system to:

• Catalogue and manage donations within their world-leading archive.
• Record detailed clinical and laboratory information for each sample.
• Track research usage of donations and maintain compliance.
• Support efficient searching and reporting across a vast and growing dataset.
• Ensure long-term stability and adaptability of the system to support research needs for decades.

The solution

Hero developed a highly secure, bespoke application that:

• Catalogues donations with detailed clinical, diagnostic, histology and macro data.
• Enables advanced search across multiple criteria to quickly locate relevant samples.
• Tracks usage so staff can log when donations are accessed for research.
• Generates formatted reports for distribution to collaborators and researchers.
• Delivers ongoing adaptability with regular updates and enhancements to keep pace with research requirements.

The system has now been in continuous use for over 10 years and has become an indispensable tool for both QSBB and partner laboratories worldwide.

The impact

• A secure, reliable digital catalogue of one of the world’s most important neurological archives has been created.
• Laboratory workflows have been streamlined by centralising all donation and research information.
• Compliance and traceability have been strengthened by logging every use of donated material.
• Collaboration has improved by enabling formatted, shareable reports.
• A long-term, stable platform has been provided, that continues to support international research efforts.