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Patient Education

The SingHealth Tissue Repository (STR) was established to store Human Biological Material to facilitate medical research. Research is an important way through which medical knowledge may be advanced and solutions may be found to improve medical care for all patients.

"Human Biological Material" refers to any biological material obtained from the human body that consists of, or includes, human cells. This includes liquid material such as blood and other bodily fluids, and solid material such as diseased tissues.

Human Biological Material may be obtained (e.g., in an operation) as part of the diagnosis or treatment for which patients are seeking care in hospital. After the diagnosis has been made, there may be leftover tissue which will ordinarily be destroyed as biological waste. However, leftover material can be used for future research. Therefore, rather than discarding as waste, patient’s consent is sought to procure and store them in STR for future research. The patient’s decision on whether or not to consent to donate is entirely voluntary and will NOT affect the medical care extended to the patient.

In addition to leftover material, extra material such as blood, bone marrow, saliva, cheek swab (buccal swab), hair, nail clippings and urine can be donated for future research. "Extra Material" refers to additional Human Biological Material collected from the patient that is not required for diagnosis/treatment. Such extra material will only be collected for future research if there is patient consent and if it can be safely obtained without affecting the health or wellbeing of patient.

Donated Human Biological Material will be used by researchers who are required to follow a strict process to apply for and gain access to donated material.


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Remarks for donor who is a minor (below 21 years of age and unmarried):
(i) For all minors, parent consent must be obtained using SingHealth Tissue Repository Donation of Human Biological Material For Future Research Information Sheet and Consent Form.
(ii) For minors who are between 12 to 20 years of age and have sufficient understanding and intelligence, they can jointly sign the consent form together with the parent.
(iii) For minors who are between 6 to 11 years of age regardless of understanding and intelligence and minors who are between 12 to 20 years of age and do not have sufficient understanding and intelligence, assent discussion should be conducted using SingHealth Tissue Repository Donation of Human Biological Material For Future Research Assent Form.