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The ISBER Award for Outstanding Achievement in Biobanking, sponsored by Worthington Lifesciences, is designed to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of biobanking. The award can be given for a single outstanding achievement or for a life-time body of outstanding work in the field. ISBER is proud to announce the 2017 winner of the ISBER Outstanding Achievement in Biobanking Award is Dr. Allison Hubel. Allison is a professor in the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota. She also directs the Biopreservation Core Resource at the University, which, as stated on its website, “aims at providing a unique resource for the biospecimen community by serving to improve the quality of biospecimens available for biomedical research and clinical use.” From 2012 to 2015, Allison was a Deputy Editor of Biopreservation and Biobanking, where she published one of the most highly cited review articles in the journal's history. Allison's leadership in the cryopreservation field makes her a very deserving recipient of one of ISBER's most prestigious awards.
The ISBER Founder's Award, sponsored by Chart MVE Biomedical, recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding leadership to the founding, support, and incorporation of ISBER as an international biobanking society. We are proud to announce that the 2017 winner of the Founder's Award is Mr. Philip Baird. Phil, who is a consultant with Daingerfield Consulting, was with the American Type Culture Collection in 1999 when the initial meetings to discuss the formation of ISBER occurred. Phil, along with his ATCC colleague Frank Simione and others of us from various government, academic, military, and commercial biobanks, was among the founding members of the organization. His early efforts, in particular in organizing our first meeting in 2000 in Rockville Maryland, and developing a funding plan and managing our finances, were critical to the early viability of ISBER. Without Phil's organizational and financial skills, our initial annual meetings would not have been nearly as well attended and otherwise successful. Phil remains a very active member of ISBER, and as a consultant he provides significant expertise on the physical aspects of biorepository creation. On the latter point, Phil and Elaine Gunter contributed a major review concerning biorepository planning, design, and engineering in two parts to Biopreservation and Biobanking in 2015. Congratulations Phil!
The ISBER Distinguished Leadership and Service Award is designed to honor ISBER members who have demonstrated exceptional leadership to further the mission and goals of the society and/or significant, long-standing contributions to the society. ISBER is proud to announce Ms. Kathy Sexton as the 2017 recipient of the ISBER Distinguished Leadership and Service Award. Kathy is the coordinator of the NCI's Cooperative Human Tissue Network Southern Division office at the University of Alabama, and the Assistant Director of the UAB Tissue Collection and Banking Facility. Kathy is being recognized for her long-term dedication to ISBER. She has been involved in ISBER since its inception, including attending the planning meeting at ATCC where the ISBER name was selected. She was elected and served as a member of the ISBER Council from 2006 to 2009, served as a member of the Education and Training (E&T) Committee from 2006 to 2013, and as Chair of E&T from 2010 to 2013. Kathy was also a contributing author to the first edition of ISBER's Best Practices, and served as an Associate Editor and Contributing Author to the second and third editions. She served as a member of the ISBER Strategic Planning Committee from 2010 to 2013. Currently, she is the Secretary for the ISBER Board of Directors, Chair the Governance Committee, and a member of the E&T Committee. In her role as ISBER's Secretary, Kathy makes sure that the Board of Director's meeting reports are complete and accurate, and that action items are tracked and completed. In addition, her tireless efforts to contribute to, and thoroughly review and comment on all proposed changes to ISBER's bylaws, policy handbook, and strategic plans are most appreciated by her colleagues on the Board of Directors. Kathy, along with Dr. Bill Grizzle, has for many years led a series of excellent workshops and symposia at ISBER meetings and elsewhere on biosafety, as well as other topics such as “Designing and Maintaining a Tissue Biorepository.” All of these activities over many years add up to a most deserved Distinguished Leadership and Service Award!
The ISBER Special Service Awards recognize individuals who have made exceptional contributions toward the goals of the society through the performance of a special service or act on behalf of the organization. ISBER is proud to announce Ms. Debra Garcia and Dr. Daniel Simeon-Dubach as the 2017 recipients of the ISBER Special Service Awards. Debra, from the AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource in California, chairs the ISBER Membership and Marketing Committee, which is very active in activities ranging from developing strategies to increase membership and member networking opportunities to assisting with the development and coordination of various activities involved in the planning and implementation of the ISBER Annual Meeting. Debra frequently represents ISBER at meetings, where she exhibits her biorepository's booth, by handing out ISBER literature and speaking with vendors who might be interested in exhibiting at annual meetings. Debra has also volunteered on many ISBER committees and task forces for more than the past 6 years, and has participated in editing the Best Practices.
Daniel Simeon-Dubach, who is with Medservice Biobanking and Consulting Services in Switzerland, is also a very active member of ISBER, as well as a long-term member and leader of the Marble Arch Working Group. Daniel is Vice-Chair of the Organizing Advisory Committee and along with Marianne Henderson and other ISBER colleagues has, for several years, organized major symposia at ISBER meetings on the economics and sustainability of biobanks. These ISBER annual meeting sessions have resulted in articles published as special sections in Biopreservation and Biobanking, and in this issue of the journal, the articles that comprise a special issue on economics and sustainability. Daniel's work as a guest editor and author for these special articles is much appreciated by the Biopreservation and Biobanking editors, as well as our readers, as ISBER and the journal have established our leadership in this important aspect of biobanking. Also, in terms of supporting ISBER's journal as well as Nature and others, Daniel has been very active in promoting the BRISQ standards for reporting on biospecimen collection, processing, and storage parameters.
These awards will be presented to the recipients at the ISBER business meeting in Toronto on May 12, 2017. We hope you will join us in congratulating these five very deserving recipients of our honor awards: Allison Hubel, Philip Baird, Kathy Sexton, Debra Garcia, and Daniel Simeon-Dubach!