Infrastructures

The technological and scientific infrastructures of ITB constitute an integrated network of advanced platforms dedicated to life sciences, ranging from genomics and proteomics to high-performance computing and omics data management. Distributed across the Segrate and Bari sites, these resources support research, innovation, and technology transfer through high-level services and expertise at both national and international levels. The platforms also operate in synergy with major European research infrastructures, contributing to the advancement of biomedical research and precision medicine.

Description
BBMRI.it is the Italian national node of the European Research Infrastructure for Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources (BBMRI-ERIC), a landmark of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). It is a consortium of 20 full Member States and 5 Observer countries, organized with a central pan-European coordination and 24 national nodes, each based in its respective Member State. BBMRI.it was established through a joint decree of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of University and Research. The infrastructure involves the National Research Council (CNR), the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS), and the University of Milano-Bicocca (which coordinates the node). It currently includes 55 biobanks hosted by research institutions (universities, hospitals, IRCCS, research bodies) that have signed the BBMRI-ERIC Partner Charter, the NICo network of 11 core facilities, 15 patient associations and federations, and biotechnology companies. BBMRI.it provides support to biobanks, as well as to stakeholder associations—from patients and citizens to industry—institutions, and 290 research groups through service structures (Common Services and Help Desks). The infrastructure gives researchers access to biological samples and associated data, which are considered essential for research and development in the Life Sciences. Currently, BBMRI.it biobanks host 310 collections, including patient samples (disease-oriented collections with 2.1 million cases), rare disease samples (200,000 cases), and archival tissues (approximately 250 million cases). Biological samples are at the core of translational research: from clinical practice to discovery, to technology transfer, and back to clinical application. ITB hosts the BBMRI.it Common Service IT (CS-IT). The CS-IT is a service structure that provides IT support related to biobanking. It offers expertise, tools, and services for the creation, management, and sharing of data associated with biobanks and collections within the Italian BBMRI-ERIC node.
Contact Person
Applications
National Node of the European Research Infrastructure for Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources
Website
www.bbmri.it
Location
Segrate (Mi)
Description

The ELIXIR computational infrastructure is based on a hybrid model that integrates a Cloud Computing platform (OpenStack) and virtualization systems (Proxmox and VMware), supported by a high-performance network and a geographically distributed, high-performance parallel storage system for the advanced management of datasets, metadata, and reference databases.

The hardware configuration includes 220 servers in Bari and 15 servers in Segrate (Dell R740xd), for a total of approximately 12,000 CPU cores, 10 NVIDIA A100 GPUs (Bari), and three Dell Isilon parallel storage systems (Bari, Segrate, and Naples), each with a capacity of 5 PB. The infrastructure is supported by a 10–25 Gbit/s network and a direct 10 Gbit/s connection to the GARR network.

The High Availability (HA) Cloud IaaS platform, based on OpenStack and managed through OpenStack-Ansible, together with the virtualization platform, has been designed to natively support large-scale bioinformatics pipelines, including applications (typically AI-based) requiring intensive GPU computing. The storage backend is based on Ceph, a distributed and redundant layer providing object, block, and file services in multi-tenant environments. Ansible automation ensures repeatable, consistent, and idempotent deployments, simplifying the management of the entire stack.
The BioRepository, consisting of geographically redundant storage and Virtual Machines (VMs), represents an integrated service for managing bioinformatics (omics) data and related metadata throughout their entire lifecycle—from post-sequencing transfer to storage and sharing based on defined access privileges—following FAIR principles. The service adopts advanced security and traceability mechanisms, including encryption and digital signatures (CRYPT4GH), as well as secure transfers via SSHv2 tunnels using ED25519 keys, in compliance with GDPR.
ITB personnel are responsible for the management and maintenance of the infrastructure and the services provided.
The infrastructure has been realised thanks to the funds from the CNR.BiOmics (PON R&I 2014–2020) and ELIXIRxNextGenIT (PNRR IR) projects.

Contact Person
Applications
The ELIXIR computational infrastructure, located at the Bari and Segrate (MI) sites, contributes to the computational services provided by the Italian node of the ESFRI research infrastructure ELIXIR-IT (Compute Platform).
Location
Bari
Description

The Proteomics Unit of ITB-Segrate, an integral part of the OMICS platform within the ELIXIR-IT infrastructure, serves as a strategic node for the provision of advanced research services to both academic and industrial sectors, with applications in health and biomedical sciences. The main objective of the unit is to provide state-of-the-art proteomics technologies and expertise to public and private entities, contributing to the development of a co-innovation ecosystem based on technology transfer and the valorization of scientific research outcomes. In recent years, proteomics has undergone significant technological advancements, expanding its range of applications and translational value. The adoption of label-free and gel-free methodologies, combined with advanced statistical and bioinformatics tools, has enabled large-scale analysis of cellular, tissue, and biofluid proteomes, facilitating the identification of differentially expressed proteins and their correlation with specific pathophysiological conditions. Furthermore, the integration of proteomics data with Systems Biology approaches has enabled the mapping of molecular networks involved in pathological processes, fostering a deeper understanding of altered pathways and opening new perspectives for the development of personalized therapeutic strategies.

The ITB-Segrate Unit has extensive experience in the development and application of proteomics technologies for the study of complex diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative, rare, metabolic, cardiovascular, and immunological disorders. It has been among the first groups in Italy to implement micro- and nano-chromatography systems coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry, such as MudPIT (Multidimensional Protein Identification Technology), demonstrating its excellence through numerous high-impact scientific publications. This broad expertise has led to the establishment of a comprehensive experimental and computational pipeline for the proteomic analysis of complex biological samples. The unit can provide high-tech research services for protein identification and quantification in complex biological systems, leveraging the integration of high-resolution mass spectrometers, advanced chromatographic technologies such as nanoLC, well-established workflows, and customizable computational tools. These services are particularly valuable for biomarker discovery, therapeutic target characterization, optimization of biotechnological processes, and the integration of omics data for precision medicine.


Contact Person
Applications
Design and optimization of end-to-end experimental proteomics pipelines based on nanoLC–HRMS/MS platforms, with particular focus on their implementation in high-throughput mode for clinical proteomics applications.
Sample Types

Complex biological matrices

Location
Segrate (Mi)