The International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) is the largest international forum that addresses the technical, legal, ethical, and managerial issues relevant to repositories of biological and environmental specimens. ISBER is a professional society of individuals and organizations who share an interest in promoting consistent, high quality standards, ethical principles and innovation in biospecimen banking by uniting the global biobanking community. ISBER invites all sub-components of government, academia, the private sector, and manufacturers to become active participants of the society.

3. Who is ISBER?
ISBER Members represented
in over 40 countries
Members include:
• Biobank professionals
• Academic researchers and scientists
• Industry vendors and suppliers
• Government

4. Six biobank categories
• Animal specimen
• Human specimen
• Microorganism culture
collection
• Environmental repository
• Museum repository
• Plant/seed repository
Who is ISBER?

5. Dissemination of information on repository
management issues
Education and sharing of information within
the society and community
A voice for repositories to influence regulations
Development of best practice guidelines
Provision of centralized information resources
for existing repositories
Bring members together to work on "hot topics”
Goals of the Society

6. The leading global forum that addresses key
challenges relevant to biological and
environmental repositories.
• Standardization
• Benchmarking
• Harmonization
ISBER

7. Standardization
• Best Practices for Repositories
• Communicates most effective practices for the management of specimen
collections and repositories.
• Standard PREanalytical Code (SPREC)
• Track and assign explicit preanalytic variations in collection, preparation
and storage of specimens.
Benchmarking
• Self Assessment Tool (SAT) for repositories
• Evaluate adherence to ISBER Best Practices for repositories
• ISBER Proficiency Testing (PT) Program
• Assess the accuracy of quality control assays and characterization of
biospecimens
Harmonization
• ISBER Working Groups and Committees (eg. Science Policy Committee)
ISBER Resources

8. Communicates the most effective practices
for the management of specimen collections
and repositories
Effective practices for the management of
specimen collections and repositories
Reflects the collective experience of its
members and has received broad input from
other repository professionals
ISBER Best Practices

9. Evaluate your repository
based on the ISBER Best
Practices
158 questions
Helps specimen collection
centers strengthen their
practices through the
identification of areas in
need of improvement
Confidential
Self-Assessment Tool (SAT)

10. Developed by the ISBER Biospecimen Science
Working Group
Manage and track pre-analytical variations impacting
biospecimen integrity
• Comprises 7 elements for both fluid and solid samples
• Defines the sample and primary container type, periods of
cold and warm ischemia, and subsequent handling steps
Standard PREanalytical Code
(SPREC)

11. Allows biorepositories to:
• Assess the accuracy of their quality control assays and
their characterization of biospecimens
• Compare results with those obtained in other laboratories
around the world
• Identify testing problems that may be related to individual
staff performance or calibration of instrumentation used in
biospecimen quality control
Provides an External Quality Assessment (EQA)
tool and guidance to biorepositories and
laboratories testing biospecimens
Proficiency Testing (PT) Program

12. ISBER Membership Categories
Where do you fit?
Individual Membership
Organizational Membership
• Small (<11 employees )
• Medium (11-50 employees)
• Large (>50 employees)

13. ISBER Committees
• Science Policy
• Education and Training
• Publications
• Marketing and
Membership
Special Interest Groups
ISBER Working Groups
• Biospecimen Science
• Environmental
Biospecimens
• Hospital-Integrated
Biorepositories
• Informatics
• Rare Diseases
• Rights to and Control of
Human Tissue Samples
• International Repository
Locator
Areas of Involvement
Learn more about us at
www.isber.org