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NCI Testifies on Recommendations for Federal Biospecimens Storage and Tracking Policies

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research (OBBR) Deputy Director Jim Vaught, Ph.D. testified to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology on Tuesday, Sept. 9 about the immediate need for the federal government’s adoption of best practices and policies for biospecimen storage and tracking. Dr. Vaught was invited to testify due to his extensive involvement in biospecimen process evaluation and best practices.

Dr. Vaught’s testimony comes in response to recent events that have identified a lack of standardized, comprehensive approaches to the long-term management and use of federally held, scientific biospecimen collections. In his testimony, Dr. Vaught stated that there is broad agreement that federal scientific collections are often subject to highly variable and substandard quality management practices, frequently without long-term plans for custodianship. He also indicated that since many of these collections are priceless and irreplaceable, adoption of practices such as those developed by the NCI and other groups will be critical if these collections are to be preserved in the condition necessary to make the scientific discoveries and medical advances for which they were intended.

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