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ISBER and ASCP BOC are pleased to announce the Qualification in Repository Science (QBRS) for biobankers.

Upon meeting specific educational and experience requirements for the qualification, candidates will be eligible to complete an online examination and, if successful, gain recognition for their skills and competencies as biobankers. This new qualification will further advance the field of biorepository science! Biobanks are vital to medical research and precision medicine and require qualified professionals to obtain high quality results that will be useful in advancing biomedicine.

Peter Watson is Director of Biobanking and Biospecimen Research Services (BBRS) BC Cancer, British Columbia, Canada. He is also a Staff Pathologist and Senior Scientist at BC Cancer, Professor of Pathology at the University of British Columbia, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria. In the fields of biobanking he coleads the Canadian Tissue Repository Network (CTRNet) that maintains and operates an online biobank resource center, an open-source biobank data-management system, and a biobank certification program. The CTRNet quality assurance programs have >740 biobanks enrolled (~70% Canadian and 30% International from >20 countries). He is also deputy editor for the journal 'Biopreservation and Biobanking' and a long standing ISBER member. In his other roles he maintains and active clinical pathology practice and a research laboratory program focused on breast cancer. He is author of over 250 research publications including papers on biobank classification, standards, sustainability, and utilization.

Tamsin Tarling in the Program Leader for the Canadian Tissue Repository Network (CTRNet), co-leader of the BC Cancer Biobanking and Biospecimen Research Services (BBRS) and Manager of the BC COVID-19 Biobank Network (BCCBN). Tamsin has worked in the field of biobanking since 2011 and has extensive experience establishing biobanks, both disease specific biobanks and campus wide hospital biobanks, her experience encompasses all aspects of biobanking including the consent of patients, specimen collection, management of SOPs and ensuring good governance over the collection, storage and distribution of specimens. In addition, Tamsin has done a significant amount of work in regard to biobank standards, biobank audits and biobank legacy projects. Tamsin is chair of the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (IESBER) Education and Training. 

“The TTR team works tirelessly in the background of patient care, and yet their innovative work is changing how we treat cancer and conduct research.  This is directly leading to improvement in patient outcomes, and decreasing the burden of cancer,” says Dr. Jason Hart, executive medical director of BC Cancer – Victoria, and nominator for the group PHSA+ Award. “The desire to make a difference and improve outcomes for patients with cancer is the motivation that keeps this team continually pushing the frontiers of biobanking.  The work of this small group has far-reaching implications. They are making a global impact.  They epitomize the word ‘teamwork’, because their achievements would not be possible without the partnerships and collaborations with patients, physicians, lab technicians, researchers, and administrators, locally and around the world.” 

 “As a team we are thrilled and honoured to receive this recognition,” says TTR team’s project nurse Jodi LeBlanc. “It felt great for our whole team to receive the news. We were very pleased to have been selected for the PHSA+ award and to have our productivity, achieved through our emphasis on teamwork, acknowledged across the PHSA.” Jodi works with patients and stakeholders and finds her role in advancing cancer research exceptionally rewarding. “Making a connection with patients in person or by phone and providing them the opportunity to participate in the TTR is at the top of my list of why I come to work,” she shares.

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