Abstract
Who would have thought a year ago what impact a pandemic could have? When it became clear that the ISBER 2020 Annual Meeting would not take place, ISBER wanted to build an alternative to the seemingly irreplaceable yearly event. Although travel remains a nonstarter and time is at a premium for overly extended biobankers who are working from home, the ISBER head office in collaboration with the Standards Committee and the ISBER presidents has chosen to leverage the technology and techniques that now seem so commonplace in a post-COVID world to provide valuable content to the ISBER membership and the broader biobanking community. The goal is not only to bring the annual meeting to homes and workplaces worldwide but also to create events and content to keep us all informed and connected through these trying times.
The first activity, driven by the ISBER presidents, was to bring information about COVID-19 from the experts to ISBER during the world's rapidly evolving understanding of the pandemic in its early days. It was decided that a series of town halls would be offered. Although ISBER had produced webinars before, the speed at which the first webinars were developed and held was unprecedented! Within 14 days from conception, the first of five COVID sessions was produced.
This first webinar was a keynote talk presented by Dr. Tristan Knight from the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, entitled “Understanding COVID-19.” Attended by 280 people and later viewed (https://www.isber.org/page/covid-19) by >500 people and counting, this presentation provided an in-depth background of the Sars-CoV-2 virus, its mechanism of infection, current known symptoms and treatments, and statistics highlighting its infection rates and spread worldwide. In the initial days of the pandemic, it provided a grounding basis of facts for biobankers to have when adjusting their daily personal and professional activities.
In addition, two virtual town hall sessions on the COVID-19 impact, preparedness, and response have already taken place. These virtual town halls exposed one of the big challenges when an international society such as ISBER wants to organize a webinar for its members: time zones! The geographical distribution of the members makes it impossible to find a time in which all members could participate; therefore, two town halls were organized: one for the Pacific region and one for the Atlantic region. The sessions were titled “The COVID-19 Impact.” Part 1 focused on the Indo-Pacific Rim and China region, and Part 2 focused on the Americas and European region. Introductory remarks and content were developed by Dr. Rongxing Gan (China), Ms. Monique Albert (Canada), Dr. Wayne Ng (Australia), Dr. Koh Furuta (Japan), Professor Daniel Cathpoole (Australia), and Dr. Alison Parry Jones (United Kingdom). Sessions were presented as follows: Dr. Tasuaki Tsuruyama (Japan) spoke on the ISO Standards directing COVID Response-Risk-based Approach and ISBER Best Practices, Dr. Jajah Fachiroh (Indonesia) spoke on COVID-19 Impact on Biobanking in Indonesia, Dr. Birendra Yadev (India) spoke on the Impact of COVID-19 in the Operation of National Liver Disease Biobank in India, Dr. Xun Xu (China) spoke on Fire Eye Lab—Clinical Testing for COVID-19, Dr. Ravi Rayanade (India) spoke on the Corona Virus Perspective, Dr. Yoshinori Satomi (Japan) spoke on the Japanese Pharma Response to COVID-19, Ms. Heidi Wagner (Canada) spoke on Remote Management of Biobanks, Dr. Rita Lawlor (Italy) spoke on Repurposing Biobank Facilities for COVID Testing, and Dr. Marta Castelhano (United States) spoke on Biobank Leadership Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Approximately 180 people attended the Pacific-focused session and 150 people attended the Atlantic session. The great success showed how well this concept was appreciated.
The latest webinar focused on “Biobanking in the COVID-19 Era: How Early Experiences can Translate into Actionable Wisdom.” A taskforce of the ISBER Standards Committee under the leadership of Clare Allocca conducted a survey among ISBER members and other biobankers with the aim to identify the main challenges of this crisis and the most important tools and resources for biobanks to overcome these challenges in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. The results were presented along with seven case studies from Ms. Mieke De Wilde (Biobank Antwerp, Belgium), Dr. Shannon J. McCall (Duke University, USA), Dr. Marta Castelhano (Cornell Veterinary Biobank, USA), Ms. Monique Albert, (Ontario Tumour Bank, Canada), Dr. Koh Furuta (Urayasu Warakuen Clinic, Japan), and Dr. Zisis Kozlakidis (IARC, France). The case studies discussed challenges and presented tools, including the ISBER Best Practices, CTRNet Biobank Certification Program, and ISO 20387, which improved response of their biobank operations to the COVID pandemic along with three case studies from low- and middle-income countries. The results are also currently being compiled in an article that will be submitted to BIO and will be part of the BIO special issue on COVID-19 planned for the end of this year. All the webinars already broadcast are available on the ISBER website https://www.isber.org/page/covid-19. More webinars will be planned as needed and as the pandemic continues to evolve.
In addition to the webinars and activities associated with COVID, the annual meeting has been “virtualized” for our members. A majority of sessions will be provided as webinars from July to October 2020. For more information, please visit: https://www.isber.org/page/isber-2020.
ISBER also acknowledges that the pandemic has both professional and personal impacts. To this end, we are not only presenting webinars but also launching activities to keep our community connected even as we are physically apart. ISBER has solicited your photos and stories on social media about how you are now “biobanking” from home by posting on your favorite social media platform with the #ISBERatHome. ISBER also acknowledges the stress that parenting during a pandemic can cause and will be providing an “ISBER Junior Activity Pack” to entertain your child as well as to provide a creative outlet to create an ISBER mascot! And keep a look out for even more social activities as ISBER works to bring us together.
Much is now being talked about “New Normal” without knowing exactly what this new normal will look like. It can be assumed, however, that there will be major upheavals within the biobank community. The economic situations, whether local, regional, national, or international, may lead, at least in the short and medium term, to a shortage of financial support for biobanks. Biobanks are well advised if they define the financial sustainability of their biobank as the first priority at an early stage, that is, immediately. Since every biobank exists in its own individual environment, these solutions must also be based on this individual environment. Still, the professionalization of biobanking is of central importance, now more than ever. And it continues to be ISBER's goal to provide the information, education, and tools for biobanks and biobankers to navigate this new normal moving forward.