Chan Soon-Shiong Biobank at Windber Receives CLIA Certification
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Chan Soon-Shiong Institute of Molecular Medicine at Windber announced that the Chan Soon-Shiong Biobank at Windber (CSSBW) has been certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Acts of 1988 (CLIA). This certification follows the accreditation by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) in 2015, rounding out the most important third-party validation within the industry for laboratories. With over 15 years of expertise within the industry and over 200,000 specimens representing blood components, different tissue types, DNA and RNA stored in the biorepository, today’s announcement ensures that CSSBW has the appropriate authority to handle and test human samples collected from clinical trials within the Cancer MoonShot 2020 initiative.
“At CSSBW, we pride ourselves in providing high quality biospecimens to enhance the scope and reliability of molecular research; having CLIA certification secures us the upmost authority to handle specimens gathered from Cancer MoonShot 2020 clinical trials,” said Stella B. Somiari, PhD, senior director at CSSBW. “We are thrilled to be the national biobank for Cancer MoonShot 2020 to support its efforts in combatting cancer. Managing the biospecimen collection, storage and processing for Cancer Moonshot 2020 guarantees the team will gather and treat specimens that represent the right disease states, yielding accurate results from experimentation and research.”
Under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the CLIA program regulates laboratories that test patient specimens to ensure accurate and reliable results are produced. CLIA-certification and CAP-accreditation allows CSSBW to begin collecting, processing, storing, testing and distributing samples performed on the GPS Cancer test.
“We are excited to have Chan Soon-Shiong Biobank at Windber as the national biobank for Cancer MoonShot 2020,” said Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, founder and CEO of NantWorks and founder of the Cancer MoonShot 2020 program. “CLIA certification not only gives the biobank the authority to handle samples performed on GPS Cancer, but it also ensures that these samples are kept at the highest quality in order to provide true reflections of the patients’ conditions, which is essential for us to win the war on cancer.”
CSSBW will serve as the national biobank for Cancer MoonShot 2020, providing resources for specimen procurement, processing, storage, testing, research and distribution. This partnership provides support for Cancer MoonShot 2020’s satellite clinical trials from which samples will be collected and shipped to the biobank. As the national biobank for the initiative, CSSBW will guarantee that all required procedures are in place to ensure the highest quality of biospecimens used for cancer research.
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Story from the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute of Molecular Medicine at Windber. Please note: The content above may have been edited to ensure it is in keeping with Technology Networks’ style and length guidelines.
