(PRWEB) July 04, 2018 -- IBBL (Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg) is pleased to announce the launch of a new Proficiency Testing programme in China, providing Chinese biobanks and laboratories with an external quality assessment tool to verify the precision and accuracy of their biospecimen testing methods.
Following the success of IBBL’s international Proficiency Testing (PT) programme, an agreement between IBBL, the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) and the Biobank Branch, China Medicinal Biotech Association (BBCMBA) was signed on May 24th in Dallas (US), marking the start of a new PT programme entirely dedicated to Chinese biobanks.
The programme will open on July 1st as a one-year pilot offering two testing schemes, namely DNA quantification and purity and RNA quantification and purity. Up to 200 participants will be able to register for each scheme. Upon completion of the programme, each participant will receive a personalised report where the individual results are compared to those of the other Chinese institutions that enrolled in the initiative, thus providing an accurate benchmarking of the performance of the biospecimen testing methods. BBCMBA will play a major role in the Chinese PT programme, being responsible for the coordination of the registrations, the receipt of samples from IBBL and their redistribution to the participants, the delivery of final reports, as well as administrative procedures such as import licenses.
Prof. Gao, President of BBCMBA addressed, “The quality of bio-specimens is crucial. The BBCMBA works consistently to enhance international exchanges and cooperation to promote the standardization of biobanking and the development of global health. BBCMBA is happy to be partner with ISBER and IBBL for this purpose. We will do our best to establish the success of the China PT Program.”
“The launch of a new PT programme in China demonstrates the marked interest of the international scientific community in biospecimen quality and in the standardisation of biobanking practices. IBBL is committed to supporting scientific progress in this direction well beyond the boundaries of Europe. We are therefore honoured that our expertise in quality assessment will be put to the service of Chinese biorepositories”, declared Dr. Fay Betsou, Chief Scientific Officer at IBBL. “We are particularly grateful to our local partner BBCMBA for their invaluable support and to ISBER for endorsing our programme.”
“We are delighted with the establishment of this collaboration with a strong association in China. Working together, BBCMBA, IBBL and ISBER will provide guidance and support to biobanks nationally and internationally”, said Dr. Zisis Kozlakidis, Past-President of ISBER and co-signatory of the agreement.
As the sole ISBER-endorsed PT programme in the world that focuses on biospecimens, IBBL’s processing and testing schemes have become increasingly popular over the last six years. In 2017, 104 participants from 31 countries registered for a total of 405 PT schemes.
For more information, please visit the dedicated IBBL PT webpage.
About IBBL
IBBL (Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg) is an autonomous not-for-profit institute dedicated to supporting biomedical research for the benefit of patients. IBBL is an integrated research infrastructure offering bioservices, including the collection, processing, analysis and storage of biological samples and associated data. In addition, IBBL carries out research to optimise biospecimen processing and certify biospecimen quality. IBBL is ISO 9001:2008 certified and ISO 17025:2005 accredited. IBBL’s quality management system is conceived to be compliant with NF S96-900:2011 and ISO 17043:2010. IBBL’s mission is to provide biospecimen related services and a biobanking infrastructure for applied medical research. IBBL’s vision is to be an international centre of excellence in biobanking and a valued partner in developing better healthcare solutions. IBBL is an autonomous institute, organised within the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH). For more information, please visit our corporate website (http://www.ibbl.lu) or our public website (http://www.biobank.lu).
About BBCMBA
The Biobank Branch, China Medicinal Biotech Association (BBCMBA) was established in 2009 with a vision to treasure Bio-specimens, implement standards, apply full utilization of resources, and protect property rights. BBCMBA is a national committee which works on standardizing biobanking and promoting the standardization of biobanking in China. The slogan of BBCMBA is: Industry standard, Education and training, Academic communication, and International cooperation.
About ISBER
ISBER is the only global forum that addresses harmonization of scientific, technical, legal, and ethical issues relevant to repositories of biological and environmental specimens. The mission of ISBER as a global organization is to create opportunities for sharing ideas and innovations in biobanking and harmonizes approaches to evolving challenges for biological and environmental repositories. ISBER fosters collaboration, creates education and training opportunities, provides an international showcase for state-of-the-art policies, processes, and research findings, and innovative technologies, products, and services. Together, these activities promote best practices that cut across the broad range of repositories that ISBER serves.
Ana Torres, International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER), http://www.isber.org, +1 604-484-5693, [email protected]
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