The NCI OBBR recently held a symposium–workshop to define the parameters of custodianship that would allow biospecimen resources to operate in a culture of transparency, fairness, and accountability to all stakeholders. After keynote and plenary presentations from a variety of stakeholders and experts, workshop participants joined breakout groups to address specific questions and revise or generate specific recommendations in the realm of custodianship and ownership issues. These groups addressed the following topics: (1) Considerations for research participants, investigators, and institutions; (2) financial conflicts of interest (COIs); (3) intellectual property (IP); and (4) access to products and benefits. The summary report highlights the groups’ recommendations regarding custodianship as well as issues that will need further discussion following the symposium–workshop. [ Read More ]

More than 250 on-site and 100 webcast participants attended the first NCI Biospecimen Research Network (BRN) Symposium, "Advancing Cancer Research Through Biospecimen Science," on March 13-14, 2008, in Washington, DC. The primary goal of the symposium was to address the significant impact of pre-analytical biospecimen variability on cancer research and molecular medicine. We invite you to view the symposium presentations and archived webcast at www.brnsymposium.com.

For more than 100 years, physicians have been collecting blood and other tissue samples -called "biospecimens" by scientists-to detect and study disease. In the post-genomics era of biomedical science, biospecimens are assuming an even more prominent role in efforts to identify the key genes, RNAs, proteins, and signaling networks involved in cancer, and then use that information to detect cancer at its earliest stages and develop a personalized therapeutic regimen to treat that cancer. [ Read More ]