LAUSR

As we reflect on the activities of 2017, one of the greatest achievements in the field of biobanking has been the initiation, planning, and holding the first Global Biobank Week (GBW) in Stockholm, Sweden, from September 13 to 15, 2017. The event attracted a total of 857 participants and vendors from 53 countries, including 53 participants from lowand middle-income countries. The congress supported seven travel awardees. The attendees came from biobanks, clinical organizations, biological resource centers, industrial partners, policy-making organizations, ministries, and advocacy groups. This meeting was a close collaboration between three organizations, the European and Middle Eastern and African Society for Biopreservation and Biobanking (ESBB); the Biobanking and Biomolecular Research Infrastructure–European Research Infrastructure Consortium (BBMRI-ERIC); and the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER). This first-time collaboration was the brainchild of Jan-Eric Litton, the now former Director General of BBMRI-ERIC. The first meeting of the GBW Steering Committee was held in Vienna, Austria, at the time of the Europe Biobank Week (EBW) in 2016 during which the framework for the meeting planning was established. The steering committee was chaired by Jan-Eric Litton and vice-chaired by Brent Schacter, now Past President of ISBER (Fig. 1). Steering committee members included Elke Smits (ESBB Past President), Outi Törnwall (BBMRI-ERIC), Markus Pasterk (BBMRI-ERIC), Michaela Th. Mayrhofer (BBMRI-ERIC), Erik Steinfelder (Director General, BBMRI-ERIC), Balwir (Bal) Mathroo-Ball (ESBB President), Marianne Henderson (ISBER OAC Chair), Zisis Kozlakidis (ISBER President), Ana Torres (ISBER), Samantha Wale (ISBER), Gunnel Tybring (KI), Robert Hewitt (ESBB), and Nadia Taleb (Congress organizer). Marianne Henderson, was named the co-Chair of the Programme Committee (PC) along with Balwir Matharoo-Ball. The PC was assembled from representatives of all three organizations to allow the planning of the 30 excellent scientific sessions included in the GBW. The PC members came from six continents, only missing Antarctica in its reach! The GBW theme, ‘‘Toward Harmonization in Biobanking,’’ highlights a critical role that biospecimen and data harmonization plays in moving scientific discovery from the donor to the laboratory and back to the bedside. The more collaboration a biobank establishes, the higher the volume of requests for harmonization. The lack of a comprehensive methodology for linking information across data providers globally reduces the ability of researchers to combine data from disparate sources. Scientific integrity and the speed of discovery in science and technology require that we harmonize our processes and procedures for collecting, processing, storing, and annotating our biospecimens so that the data collected will be reproducible. It has become clear to the biobanking community that the biobank is a key resource for future research and that quality biospecimens will contribute to the reproducibility, validity, and rapidity of scientific discovery. Toward that end, the GBW provided a global platform for comprehensive discussion and collaboration on improving and harmonizing biobanking and biopreservation of samples and data for research. The GBW was preceded by a two-part initial training workshop that focused on ‘‘How to build a Modern Biobank’’ and ‘‘IT for Biobanks.’’ Both workshops were fully subscribed and were well attended by a globally diverse audience. The feedback from these sessions reflected the need for continued biobanking education on ELSI, IRB applications, IT, and sustainability. In addition, there is a need for professional continued development of biobank technicians, managers, and directors. The feedback also emphasized how our biobanks need to educate through our management and operational structure on the value of quality biobanking to their overall scientific infrastructure. The GBW was inaugurated by a representative from the Swedish government, Agneta Karlsson. Thereafter, Swedish folk songs were performed by Anna Johansson and at the piano Alexander Nordvall.