Biobank Assessment Tool

Learn about the BAT

The BAT relaunched October 3rd, 2022.

Please watch the video to learn more.

What is the ISBER Biobank Assessment Tool?

The ISBER Biobank Assessment tool was developed to assist repositories in evaluating how well they follow ISBER’s Best Practices including the LN2 Addendum and, on a higher level, also the ISO 20387 Standards.

It is a questionnaire that consists of nearly three hundred questions, each question has ”risk-balanced assessment score” attached to it. The questions cover general quality management for biobanking and corresponds to areas including:

• Facility planning and design
• Installation and maintenance
• Safety
• Quality Control and Auditing
• Disaster Planning/Risk Mitigation

Update (July 2024): The ISBER Biobank Assessment Tool (BAT) was developed to assist repositories in evaluating how well they follow ISBER’s Best Practices 4th Edition, including the LN2 Addendum. While not a direct assessment of compliance, the tool also aligns with many principles outlined in ISO 20387:2018 Biotechnology - Biobanking - General requirements for biobanking. We are excited to announce that an update aligning the BAT with the latest 5th edition of ISBER Best Practices is forthcoming. In the meantime, the current version remains a valuable resource for ensuring excellent performance and continuous improvement in biobanking practices.

What is in it for users of the BAT?

Upon completion of the BAT survey, the participants will receive a certificate of completion with a score showing a level of how well the repository’s current practices confirm to the ISBER Best Practices and the LN2 Addendum.

The score can be shared with the end users fo the biobank in order to give them an indicator of which level of quality the biobank currently has.

Participants will also receive a personalized report that includes:

• Areas of improvement
• References to sections in the ISBER Best practices and the LN2 Addendum
• Where applicable references to ISO 20387 (where compliance on a higher level)

The report can be downloaded as a CSV file which can be imported into a database of the user’s choice, which opens up for the user to set own filters depending on areas of interest, for examples areas of improvement.

The BAT can be used repeatedly, which allows follow up every year, giving it a natural place for any quality management system were implementation and follow up of qualitative indicators are required.