Biobanking Certification Program

NSW Health Pathology is working with key stakeholders to develop the first statewide biobanking framework in NSW. This will help ensure NSW has a world-class, sustainable approach to managing human biobanks and the specimens they house, and improve integration between research, diagnostics and clinical care.

As part of this, NSW Health Pathology is leading on a Biobanking Certification Program. This is based on a program developed in Canada by the Office of Biobank Education and Research (OBER) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver and the Canadian Tissue Repository Network (CTRNet).

“We’ve been working with the Canadian Tissue Repository Network and the University of British Columbia to develop a voluntary quality certification program. This provides biobanks and pathology laboratories with educational material and best practice guidance,” Ms Jane Carpenter, Project Manager Biobanking Services, NSW Health Pathology said.

The certification and education program:

• provides biobanks and pathology laboratories with education and best practice guidance to improve the quality of biobanking in NSW
• contains Australian-specific content regarding legislation, regulations and guidelines applicable to health and medical research
• already has more than 25 biobanks across NSW signed up to be involved in the program
• is a voluntary certification scheme aimed at improving quality.

For more information visit the Biobank Certification Program website.