Central Biorepository Awarded Full CAP Re-accreditation Status

For the third consecutive term, the Biorepository Accreditation Committee of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) awarded full accreditation status to the UMMS Central Biorepository (CBR). Renewal of accreditation was based on the results of a bi-annual inspection conducted by CAP inspectors in May, who concluded the inspection with no deficiencies cited and no additional recommendations for improvement.

“I am delighted by the Central Biorepository’s re-accreditation by the College of American Pathologists, and especially proud of the team for retaining accreditation without any deficiencies noted,” said Director Victoria Blanc, Ph.D. “The CBR staff embrace a culture of quality and take great efforts to maintain the very high standards set by the CAP. They have done an outstanding job upholding our mission to facilitate discovery and improve healthcare outcomes by providing high-quality, highly annotated biospecimens donated for basic, clinical, and translational research.”

Established in 2012, the CAP Biorepository Accreditation Program (BAP) improves the quality and consistency of the specimens stored in biorepositories. Utilizing best practices from the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories, National Cancer Institute, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Centers for Medical and Medicaid Services (CMS), the CAP BAP provides the requirements for the standardization of processes at biorepositories, which results in high-quality human specimens and genetic materials that can be used to support research.

In 2019, CMS approved the CAP BAP checklist requirements as being consistent with Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) regulations. This alignment of the CAP and CLIA requirements improves confidence in the quality of biorepository specimens that may be requested by a clinical laboratory for diagnostic testing. Samples that previously were collected for research purposes may, depending on a biorepository’s activity, now be requested by other facilities for diagnostic testing resulting in clinical action.