**1. Introduction**

Professionalism is the current hallmark of biobanks [1], which are driven by standards and best practices. A biobank is "an entity that receives, stores, processes, and/or distributes specimens, as needed. It encompasses the physical location as well as the full range of activities associated with its operation [2]." Different types of biobanks have been proposed [3], although the definitive model will be the result of the activities performed in support of the particular needs of attended projects, including real or virtual collection, processing, conservation, and distribution.

Biobanks have been involved in large quality-assured prospective studies based on validated and standardized sample handling and storage protocols [4, 5]. When a prospective multicenter research project is designed, multiple variables must be considered such as the number and type of donations, recruitment sites and analytical laboratory locations, pre-analytical requirements of samples and derivatives obtained, and processing and storage facilities. Attending to the complexity of the project, a specific workflow is implemented after process definition identifying every factor involved in (site, staff, equipment, method, materials, samples and transferences) and their corresponding checkpoints.
