Case Study: Medical University of South Carolina achieves efficient diabetes sample tracking with Freezerworks

How the Freezerworks Unlimited® software design provides unique advantages in managing a biological repository for diabetes research

The Medical University of South Carolina was faced with the immense logistical challenge of managing a centralized repository of biological samples for major diabetes studies. They needed to meticulously track hundreds of thousands of patient vials, their freeze/thaw cycles, and complex distribution to multiple researchers, a process that had become chaotic and unmanageable using spreadsheets. They implemented Freezerworks Unlimited software from the vendor Freezerworks to address these sample tracking issues.

Freezerworks provided a relational database solution that organized samples logically by patient visit and aliquot, replacing error-prone spreadsheets. The software enabled efficient tracking of sample locations, freeze/thaw cycles, and distribution through color-coding and an audit trail. The results were transformative, turning a chaotic process into a manageable operation. The team found it would have been impossible to manage their repository of over 160,000 aliquots without the Freezerworks system, which saved immense time, ensured data quality, and protected their priceless research samples.

Medical University of South Carolina

Marlene Brabham

Researcher Coordinator