History

The Skin Department was set up in 1975 as the National Skin Bank of the Dutch Burns Foundation. Human allogenic skin had been shown to be of great importance in the treatment of severe burns.

For that reason, the Dutch Burns Foundation decided to set up a centralised Skin Bank for donor skin in the Netherlands.

Additional benefits were the pooling of knowledge, low investment and operational costs, and more opportunities for research into the treatment of burns and other wounds.

Over the years, the demand for donor skin increased, and following a reorganisation the organisation, which had been named Huidbank up to that point, was renamed Euro Skin Bank. As of 2018, the skin bank is part of ETB-BISLIFE.
Because of their shared objectives, the Dutch Burns Foundation and the Skin Department still maintain close ties. 

Because of their shared objectives, the Dutch Burns Foundation and the Skin Department still maintain close ties.

Collaboration

ETB-BISLIFE closely collaborates with relevant stakeholders on the optimisation of the national and international tissue supply chains. Our individual divisions also work closely together with physicians in the field and with patient associations.

  • European Burns Association (EBA) 
    The EBA is a European non-profit organisation that focuses on the prevention of burns and aims to promote the dissemination of research results relating to the prevention and treatment of burns.

  • Netherlands Burns Foundation (NBS)

  • Association of Dutch Burn Centres (ADBC)
    The ADBC is the offshoot of the research department of the Netherlands Burns Foundation. In partnership with the Skin Bank, its research is focused in part on preclinical and clinical research.

  • Stichting Interplast Holland
    Stichting Interplast Holland is a humanitarian organisation that focuses on reconstructive surgery in developing countries for children and (predominantly) young adults with conditions such as cleft lips and burn disfigurements.