Introduction
The International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) will award two competitive awards at its Annual Meeting this year in Sydney, Australia. In order to receive one of these awards, a person's name must first be submitted to the ISBER Nominating Committee. The Committee considers all nominations and forwards its recommendations to the ISBER Council. The ISBER Council then approves the recipients. The ISBER Outstanding Achievement in Biobanking Award is sponsored for the second year by Taylor-Wharton and recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of biobanking. Past awardees include Drs. Kurt Zatloukal, Carolyn Compton, and Robert Hewitt.
ISBER is proud to announce the addition of Dr. Jim Vaught to this distinguished list. Dr. Vaught is being recognized for his exceptional vision and leadership and his extensive influence on the field of biobanking. His accomplishments in biobanking are far reaching and varied, from study design to specimen collection, processing, and storage. As a founding member of ISBER and ISBER's second President, his vision for an international forum that addresses the technical, legal, ethical, and managerial issues relevant to repositories of biological and environmental specimens has become a successful reality. His participation and leadership in committees across many agencies of the US Government in support of biospecimen collections has been invaluable. His leadership and guidance of the National Cancer Institute's Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimens Research (now BBRB) has been an important presence in providing guidance documents for cancer-focused biobanking activities. As the Editor-in-Chief of Biopreservation and Biobanking (ISBER's Official Journal) and previous Chair of the ISBER Publications Committee, Dr. Vaught has helped drive the rejuvenation/re-creation of the journal in support of the biospecimen science and biobanking fields.
The second award is the ISBER Distinguished Leadership & Service Award. This 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. Past awardees include Ms. Elaine Gunter, Mr. Phil Baird, Dr. Robert Hewitt, and Ms. Marianna Bledsoe. ISBER is proud to announce the addition of Dr. Fay Betsou to this distinguished list. Dr. Betsou is being recognized for her tireless energy and leadership of the Biospecimen Science Working Group (BSWG). The BSWG is by far the most productive ISBER working group and has produced several very significant and influential products for the scientific community, including the Standard PREanalytical Code (SPREC) for biospecimens. Dr. Betsou has also provided outstanding leadership for ISBER's innovative Biorepository Proficiency Testing (PT) Program. Her expert participation as a contributor and editor of ISBER's Best Practices for Repositories, participation on Council, and her active role in providing insightful answers on the member Listserv on biospecimen quality, have all demonstrated her exceptional leadership role in ISBER. These awards will be presented to the recipients at the ISBER Business meeting on May 8, 2013. We hope you will join us in congratulating these very deserving recipients of our two top honor awards. Below are biosketches for the 2013 ISBER Awardees, Drs. Vaught and Betsou.
ISBER Outstanding Achievement in Biobanking Award Sponsored by Taylor-Wharton
Dr. Jim Vaught is Chief of the Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research Branch (formerly OBBR) in the NCI Cancer Diagnosis Program. He earned a PhD in biochemistry from the Medical College of Georgia. His additional training and research at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the Michigan Cancer Foundation were in the areas of chemical carcinogenesis and drug metabolism. Dr. Vaught has been working in the field of biorepository and biospecimen science for 20 years, the last 14 at NCI. In 1999, he was one of the founding members of ISBER and in 2001–2002 was its second president. He participated in the development of ISBER's Best Practices for Repositories. In 2005, Dr. Vaught joined OBBR and participated in the development of NCI's Best Practices for Biospecimen Resources and the Office's other strategic initiatives. Since 2005 he has served as one of the NIH representatives to the Interagency Working Group on Scientific Collections, which was created by the Office of Science and Technology Policy. In addition to ISBER, Dr. Vaught is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and the American Association for Clinical Chemistry. He is the author of nearly 70 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. From 2006 to 2012 he was Senior Editor for Biospecimens and Biorepositories for the AACR journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. In early 2012 he became Editor-in-Chief of Biopreservation and Biobanking, the official journal of ISBER.
ISBER Distinguished Leadership & Service Award
Dr. Fay Betsou is the Chief Biospecimen Officer in the Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg (IBBL), where she is directing activities of the Biorefinery and Biospecimen Research laboratory. Her research background is in the molecular microbiology area (molecular diagnostics, immunophysiopathology and vaccines). Dr. Betsou holds a Biostatistics degree, a PhD and an Authorization for Direction of Research from Paris V University. Since obtaining her PhD, she has worked with industry for development of molecular and immunological diagnostic methods in microbiology. She was previously Head Laboratory Manager at Biobanque de Picardie where she led the work bringing the biobank to ISO certification for all biobanking activities, including Quality Control and methods validation. She has also organized a trans-disciplinary University Certificate on “Principles of biobanking for clinical, biological and environmental biospecimens and bioresources” at the University of Luxembourg. Dr. Betsou is a member of the ISBER Education and Training Committee, chair of the ISBER Biospecimen Science Working Group and of the ISBER Proficiency Testing Advisory Group and is ISBER's President Elect. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Luxembourg and teaches biospecimen science and quality control in several biobanking training courses. Dr. Betsou holds three patents and has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, including many fundamental and experimental works on biospecimen research. Her important publications include a compilation of existing biobank guidelines in the format of an accreditation standard (this work was performed together with the Marble Arch Working Group on International Biobanking), biospecimen research protocols, and the Standard PREanalytical Code (SPREC) for biospecimens (written together with the ISBER Biospecimen Science Working Group).