OBBR and NCI’s Leadership Role

In recent years, it has become clear to scientists that biorepositories with high-quality biospecimens and data are needed to enable a new generation of biomedical research based on understanding the origins of disease at the molecular level. Such biorepositories can:

• Support the genomic and proteomic analyses
• Identify new targets for therapy, detection, and prevention
• Help to develop a molecular-based taxonomy of cancer
• Integrate huge amounts of molecular and clinical data
• Ultimately realize the era of personalized medicine

Among the requirements for biorepositories to fulfill the needs of 21st century cancer research will be:

• Diversity of cancer types and populations
• Access through a timely, centralized peer-review process
• Ethical and privacy compliance through a chain of trust
• Resources provided without intellectual property restrictions
• Best practice and data-driven standard operating procedures (SOPs) to enable standardization
• Pathology and clinical annotation (including longitudinal data)
• State-of-the-art informatics system
• Communication and outreach effort

The spectrum of complexity surrounding human biospecimens is multifactorial and requires the involvement of a team of professionals working closely with the tissue donor to address all of these challenges. The NCI has undertaken a multi-year process to define and deliver a new generation of quality evidence-based standards for the biospecimens and biorepositories that are so essential for future progress in cancer research.
To this end, an important and critical action by the NCI was to establish the Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research (OBBR). The OBBR serves as the coordinating and management center for overarching biospecimen-related policies, practices and other related issues across the NCI’s biorepositories.

The OBBR is dedicated to providing leadership for biobanking activities that support all types of cancer research funded by the NCI. This is being done through a comprehensive approach to standard-setting, biobanking science, and education with the aim of improving the quality of human biospecimens and biobanking operations nationally and internationally.