NCI’s Biospecimen Best Practices Forum
The Conference Center at Harvard Medical
Boston, MA
November 5, 2007

Forum Purpose:
To educate and solicit feedback from investigators, industry representatives, hospital administrators, patient advocates, and the general public on the recently published NCI Best Practices for Biospecimen Resources, which outlines technical, operational, ethical, legal, and policy principles for biospecimen resources.

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 a.m. – 9:05 a.m.
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Carolyn C. Compton, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research (OBBR)
National Cancer Institute

Part 1: Overview and Discussion of NCI Best Practices

9:05 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
NCI Best Practices for Biospecimen Resources
Why Do We Need Biospecimen Best Practices?
Carolyn C. Compton, M.D., Ph.D.

9:30 a.m. – 9:55 a.m.
Overview of Technical and Operational Best practices State-of-the-Science Biospecimen Handling: Real-World Perspective
Martin L. Ferguson, Ph.D.
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Consultant and Co-Founder of Ardais Corporation

9:55 a.m. – 10:20 a.m.
Overview of Ethical, Legal, and Policy Best Practices Ethical and Policy Implications of Using Human Biopecimens in Research: What You Need To Know
P. Pearl O’Rourke, M.D.
Director, Human Research Affairs
Partners HealthCare System

10:20 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Break (light snacks)

10:45 a.m. – 11:10 a.m.
caBIG™, caTissue, and Achieving Silver-Level Compatibility Informatics Solutions to Biospecimen Management: Finding the Right Tools for Your Resource
Ian Fore, D.Phil.
Associate Director, Biospecimen and Pathology Informatics
NCI Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology

11:10 a.m. – 11:35 a.m.
The Importance of Best Practices to Patients, Survivors, Advocates, and the General Public
It’s All About the Patient: Putting Biospecimen Research in Perspective
Paula Kim
President and Chief Executive Officer
Translating Research Across Communities (TRAC)

11:35 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. \
Question-and-Answer Session (open microphone) and Panel Discussion

12:15 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Charge for the Breakout Sessions
Carolyn C. Compton, M.D., Ph.D.

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Lunch Break (on your own)

Part 2: Concurrent Breakout Sessions

1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Concurrent Breakout Sessions (light snacks served)

Overview of the Critical Importance of Biospecimens in Cancer Research
Carolyn C. Compton, M.D., Ph.D., and Paula Kim
Demonstration of caBIGTM Biospecimen Resource Management Tools
Ian Fore, D.Phil.
Discussion of Cost Recovery Models and Other Economic Issues Involved in Implementing the NCI Best Practices
Jim Vaught, Ph.D., Deputy Director, OBBR; Martin Ferguson, Ph.D.; and Lisa Miranda, Technical Director, Tumor Tissue and Biospecimen Bank, University of Pennsylvania

3:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Break and Move to Auditorium

Part 3: Closing and Adjournment
3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Reports From Breakout Sessions

3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Next Steps for Updating the NCI Best Practices and Closing Remarks
Carolyn C. Compton, M.D., Ph.D.

4:00 p.m.
Adjournment