BTN-INCYL

The Biobank

Mission and Objectives

The BTN-INCYL is a non-profit biobank that provides an essential service to society as a whole. It was established in mid-2011 through a specific agreement for clinical and translational research collaboration between the Regional Ministry of Health of the Government of Castile and León and Farmaindustria. The biobank was officially authorized to operate by the Regional Ministry of Health on June 21, 2013, and is registered in the National Biobank Registry of the Carlos III Health Institute under registration number 1262.

As outlined in our Strategic Plan, the fundamental mission of BTN-INCYL is to promote and facilitate brain tissue donation within its reference population, primarily in Castile and León and neighboring autonomous communities and provinces. More specifically, its objective is the collection, processing, and storage of voluntarily donated nervous tissue samples (brain, cerebrospinal fluid, and/or spinal cord), together with their associated clinical data, for post-mortem studies. In addition, BTN-INCYL performs a definitive diagnosis of each donor’s neurological disease, ensuring a comprehensive diagnostic, morphological, and molecular classification of every case. Finally, donated tissue is made available to researchers worldwide who request access and meet the strict ethical, legal, and scientific requirements established by current legislation.

Furthermore, our organization is committed to raising public awareness of the importance of nervous tissue donation as an essential and irreplaceable tool for research into neurological, psychiatric, and rare diseases affecting the nervous system. In this way, BTN-INCYL promotes research on these disorders, supports their prevention, and contributes to advancing scientific and healthcare knowledge in the field of neuroscience.

BTN-INCYL belongs to the Biobanks and Biomodels Platform of the Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca (IBSAL) and is also a biobank affiliated with the ISCIII Biomodels and Biobanks Platform, as well as included in the Biobank Hub. It is coordinated with 15 other national brain tissue biobanks.

Scope of activity and facilities

The BTN-INCYL is located at the headquarters of the Institute of Neurosciences of Castile and León, University of Salamanca. It provides coverage to the entire Castile and León region, as do four other biobanks in the autonomous community, as well as to neighboring regions that may require its services.

The BTN-INCYL is equipped with all the necessary laboratory and IT infrastructure to carry out all required techniques, both morphological and molecular, in order to obtain at least an anatomopathological report for each recruited donor case.

Organizational Chart

Collaborative Networks

BTN-INCYL is part of the Biobanks and Biomodels Platform of the Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca (IBSAL). It is also affiliated with the ISCIII Biomodels and Biobanks Platform and included in the Biobank Hub, and it is coordinated with 15 other national brain tissue biobanks.

Our biobank is a reference center in the autonomous community of Castile and León within the national brain tissue donation program “Coppadis Brain Donation Program (CBDP)”, whose main objective is to obtain brain donations from patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Collaboration Agreements and Partnerships

BTN-INCYL has signed several collaboration agreements since the year of its establishment.

Scientific Collaborations

Under construction

Indicators

Brains donated

Potential donors (individuals who have signed informed consent and are still alive)

Outreach activities

One of the key priorities outlined in the BTN-INCYL Strategic Plan is the development of a wide range of outreach activities (talks, seminars, conferences, round tables, etc.) aimed at raising awareness of tissue donation and highlighting its importance for society as a whole. These activities seek to promote the donation of nervous tissue for research purposes and to ensure that scientific breakthroughs derived from it can be translated into short- and medium-term clinical practice.

3rd ISCIII Platforms Supporting R&D&I in Biomedicine and Health Sciences Conference
Salamanca, October 27–29, 2025.
11th Congress of the National Association of Research Ethics Committees (ANCEI). Ethical safeguards for the advancement of health technology, Salamanca, May 29–30, 2025.
Iberian Neuropathology Working Group Meeting – GADIR I Workshop. Madrid, CIEN Foundation, March 27–28, 2025.
2nd Symposium on Neurological Tissues. Salamanca, March 24, 2023.
III Meeting Iberian Neuropathology Working Group. Salamanca, INCYL, 23 de Marzo de 2023.
1st Congress on Aging and Health. Salamanca, October 20–21, 2022.
1st Biobanks and Biomodels Conference. Santander, October 27–28, 2022.
Herrero-Turrión, M.J.; Malmierca, M.S. The brain can also be donated. International Centre on Ageing. https://cenie.eu/es/blog/el-cerebro-tambien-se-puede-donar. December 12, 2021.
Herrero-Turrión, M.J. The brain can also be donated (and it is not necessary to be healthy). The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/el-cerebro-tambien-se-puede-donar-y-no-es-necesario-estar-sano-140522. June 23, 2021.
10th National Biobanks Congress. Valencia, October 17–18, 2019.
1st Symposium on Neurological Tissues. Salamanca, September 27–28, 2018.
9th National Biobanks Congress. Oviedo, November 7–9, 2018.
8th National Biobanks Congress. Cartagena, October 18–20, 2017.
7th National Biobanks Congress. 1st Latin American Biobanks Congress: Santiago de Compostela, November 16–18, 2016.
6th National Biobanks Congress. Lleida, November 18–20, 2015.
5th National Biobanks Congress. Palma de Mallorca, November 12–14, 2014.

Memories

Year 2011 at the Tissue Bank of the CIEN Foundation (BT-CIEN).

for the “Consultancy for the establishment of the BTN-INCYL and the anatomopathological diagnosis of samples from this neurological tissue bank.”

Year 2017 with the Alzheimer's Patients’ Family Association of Salamanca (AFA Salamanca).

with the aim of promoting the neurological tissue donation program that our biobank maintains on a permanent basis and that AFA Salamanca makes available to its members.

Year 2017 with the Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca (IBSAL).

under which the Institute undertook to collaborate through a voluntary financial contribution to support the activities of our biobank, specifically for the collection, processing, classification, and storage of nervous tissue.

Period 2018–2021 with the Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca (IBSAL).

Period 2021–2025 with the Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca (IBSAL).

Year 2024 with the Salamanca University Hospital Complex (CAUSA).

to implement a dual donation procedure for both organs for transplantation and brain tissue for research, as well as to increase the visibility of and promote a greater number of brain donations within this institution, and to foster the development of joint research projects based on these donations.

Contact

We remain at your disposal for any questions or additional information you may require, either by telephone at +34 923 294 730, by email at btn-incyl@usal.es, or by arranging an appointment with the INCYL Neurological Tissue Bank. A 24-hour contact number is also available: +34 669 605 723.