Call for ISBER Best Practices 5th Edition Contributors

The International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories 
Call For ISBER Best Practices 5th Edition Contributors

Introduction
The International Society of Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) is the leading network in the global biobanking and biorepository community. One of its goals is to develop and update best practice guidelines. 

The ISBER's Best Practices: Recommendations for Repositories 4th Edition provides an international foundation for the practice of biobanking and addresses technical, legal, ethical, and managerial issues relevant to all types of repositories of biological and environmental specimens and associated data. It represents the collective wisdom, experience, and expertise of the community and is periodically reviewed and revised to incorporate new information from specimen science research, advances in biobanking technologies, and evolution in ethics and legislation. 

The (ISBER) Best Practices for Repositories I: Collection, Storage, and Retrieval of Human Biological Materials for Research were first published and released in March 2005. The Best Practices were subsequently revised in the 2008 Best Practices for Repositories: Collection, Storage, Retrieval and Distribution of Biological Materials for Research, in the 2012 Best Practices for Repositories: Collection, Storage, Retrieval and Distribution of Biological Materials for Research, in 2017 for the ISBER Best Practices: Recommendations for Repositories. In 2019 an addendum was published, Liquid Nitrogen-Based Cryogenic Storage of Specimens.

The fifth edition of the Best Practices will build on the foundation established in previous versions. Content is submitted by ISBER members and other interested parties in the biobanking community. We are currently seeking volunteer content contributors to support the ISBER Best Practices’ Editor-in-Chief, Emma Snapes and associate editors. 

Role Description 
This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in a best practices document that is ready to take the next step. The content contributors will have responsibility for writing specific content to a prescribed format for pre-determined sections. The goal is to ensure the highest quality and relevance of content published. The contributors report to the Best Practices Editor-in-Chief via the associate editors who additionally act as section leads. 

Responsibilities 
●Alongside section leads and section team, review the Best Practices Fourth Edition document for existing relevant content, the gap analysis findings, and relevant literature,  and determine content for a specified section of the ISBER Best Practices Fifth Edition
●After discussion and evaluation with section team, develop candidate best practices recommendations with rationale for inclusion in the ISBER Best Practices Fifth Edition
●Refine approved content as guided by reviewers’ feedback, section leads, & E-I-C
●Conduct early reviews of the ISBER Best Practices Fifth Edition and provide comments and feedback as requested
●Act as advocate for the published document, promoting it when possible. ISBER members as well as others are encouraged to apply

1.0 Requirements
1.1 Education and Experience:
●2+ years biobanking or associated experience
●Knowledge and expertise in Biobanking
1.2 Writing and Editing:
●Experience writing technical or industry-related documents
1.3 Skills and Knowledge:
●Strong writing skills
●Capable of meeting deadlines.

ISBER invites applications by Thursday 24th March, 2022. Those interested should complete the following form: https://www.isber.org/page/ISBERBestPractices5thEditionContributorForm
Please note that you will be asked to submit a 2 page CV. You will also be asked to provide information on: 
●Domain(s) of expertise (e.g. human, plant, animal, microbial, multiple, other -specify)
●Description of entity/(ites) where experience gained (e.g. museum, repository, virtual biobank, etc.)
●Top 3 areas of expertise  (e.g. governance, terminology, business, crisis planning, informatics, specimen & data life cycle, ELSI, quality control, others - please specify)
●Years of experience
●Clearly outline relevant experience to support application (limit to 150 words)