Leaders in Biobanking Congress
Discussion Groups
Table 1: Developing an Institutional Biobank within the Pathology Department
Angen Liu, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Director, Tissue Biospecimen Resource Center; Associate Staff, Anatomic Pathology, Cleveland Clinic
• What types of biospecimen should be stored in the biobank?
• What important roles the pathologists play in the management of biobank?
• How to develop and maintain a sustainable business model?
Table 2: Standardization/Inspections in Biorepositories
Philip A. Branton, M.D., FCAP, Consultant Surgical Pathologist, Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research, National Cancer Institute, NIH
Nancy Yeransian, Senior Manager, Accreditation Programs, College of American Pathologists (CAP)
• Do you follow or use standard practices (SOPs) in your biorepository? Are they “homegrown”. Do you consult with other biorepository directors?
• What challenges are you facing in your operation?
• How does a biorepository ensure quality and accuracy?
Table 3: Enterprise-Wide Biobanking Informatics System
Helena Ellis, Director, Duke Biobank, Duke Translational Medicine Institute, Duke University
• How do you get stakeholder participation?
• How do you manage reluctance to change?
• How do you identify comprehensive technical and user requirements to meet everyone’s needs?
• How do you demonstrate risk reduction and quality improvement with adoption of a system?
• How are you sure you are getting what the sales team sold you?
Table 4: When Worlds Collide – Patient Care vs. Research Needs
Catherine A. Hammett-Stabler, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina
• What are best practices for assuring sample integrity for research while completing patient care needs?
• What are challenges with tissues?
• How to successfully navigate HIPAA/consent?
Table 5: DAB based IHC vs. Quantitative Immunofluorescence - "What Brown cannot Do for You"
Veronique Neumeister, M.D., Senior Associate Research Scientist, Department of Pathology, Yale University
• What are the advantages of IHC in the clinical/research setting?
• What are the disadvantages of IHC based assays - do imaging and quantification systems adress these issues?
• Objective and reproducible assessment of protein expression with quantitative IF - a tool only for research settings?
Table 6: The Impact of Quality and Quantity of Nucleic Acids on Results Generation
Steve Siembieda, COO, Advanced Analytical Technologies
• Measurement methods, which to believe?
• Purity vs. quality, is one more important than the other?
• Why is an objective quality number so helpful?
Table 7: The Economics of Biobanking
Jay A. Tischfield, Ph.D., FACMG, Duncan and Nancy MacMillan Prof of Genetics, Director, Human Genetics Institute, Department of Genetics/Human Genetics Institute , Rutgers University
• How large must a biobank be to become economically viable and self-sustaining?
• What are the models that allow biobanks to be self-supporting?
• What happens to collections of samples when there is no longer funding?
• To what extent might biobanks vertically integrate with related research/clinical activities?
Table 8: The Value of Automation in Biobanking
Martin Frey, Ph.D., Head of Storage Technology Market Segment, Hamilton Bonaduz AG
• How do you assess the value of your samples?
• What are driving aspects to automate biobanks?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of operating a biobank with a manual freezer farm?
• Which advantages/disadvantages are expected when using automation in biobanking?
• Do automated biobanks provide a competitive advantage over manual-operated biobanks?