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Annual Report2020
Annual Report 2020
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Table Contents
ABOUT ISBER .................................................................................................. 3
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT ....................................................................... 4
ORGANIZATION LEADERSHIP AND STAFF ........................................................... 5
ISBER 2020 MEMBERSHIP MID-YEAR REPORT ...................................................... 7
ACTIVITY REPORT ........................................................................................... 11
ISBER Meetings ............................................................................................................................11
ISBER’s COVID-19 Response .......................................................................................................... 12
Upcoming ISBER Meetings ........................................................................................................... 13
Qualification in Biorepository Science (QBRS) .................................................................................. 14
ISBER Committee Reports ............................................................................................................. 15
New Website Launch .................................................................................................................... 17
Essentials of Biobanking ................................................................................................................ 18
REGIONAL REPORTS .......................................................................................19
STRATEGIC PLAN 2021 ................................................................................... 23
BIOPRESERVATION AND BIOBANKING ANNUAL REPORT .................................... 24
2020 AWARD RECIPIENTS .............................................................................. 26
SPONSORS AND EXHIBITORS .......................................................................... 27
ISBER 2020 Annual Meeting .........................................................................................................27
ISBER 2019 Regional Meeting .......................................................................................................29
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ................................................................................ 30
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About
ISBER is the only global forum that addresses harmonization of scientific, technical, legal, and ethical issues relevant to repositories of biological and environmental specimens.
ISBER fosters collaboration; creates education and training opportunities; provides a forum for the dissemination of state-of-the-art policies, processes, and research findings; and provides an international showcase for innovative technologies, products, and services. Together, these activities promote best practices that cut across the broad range of repositories that ISBER serves.
ISBER is a global organization which creates opportunities for sharing ideas and innovations in biobanking and har-monizes approaches to evolving challenges for biological and environmental repositories.
1. Disseminate information on repository management issues2. Educate and share information and tools within the society
and with stakeholders3. Act as the voice for repositories to influence regulations and policy4. Develop best practice guidelines5. Provide centralized information about existing repositories6. Bring members together to work on emerging issues
ISBER is a global biobanking organization which creates opportunities for networking, education, and innovations and harmonizes approaches to evolving challenges in biological and environmental repositories.
ISBER will be the leading global biobanking forum for promoting harmo-nized high quality standards, education, ethical principles, and innovation in the science and management of biorepositories.
Mission
Vision
Goals
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Message from the President
Dear ISBER members,
I am pleased to present to you the 2020 annual report. The goal of the report is to provide you with a summary of what the association leadership accomplished on your behalf since the 2019 annual general meeting.
This past year has been a busy, challenging year for the association! After hosting our successful 20th anniversary meeting in Shanghai, China, we hosted a very successful regional meeting in Minneapolis, USA. This meeting attracted 299 attendees from around the Americas and beyond.
We continued to develop our Regional Ambassador (RA) program. We now have ambassadors in all four region, representing vast geographic diversity. We launched the new Qualification in Biorepository Science (QBRS) examination in April 2020. We were pleased to learn that in our first two months, five individuals received their qualification! We would like to encourage all interested to reach out with questions and comments.
This past year we faced the significant challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Regretfully, we had to cancel our ISBER 2020 Annual Meeting scheduled to take place in Anaheim, USA. When this decision was made the leadership of the organization realized that we needed to pivot quickly to meet the needs of the membership. We created a series of COVID-19 educational sessions to address some identified needs. We also launched an educational series that will contain the majority of sessions that would have been presented in Anaheim.
We are very pleased to announce that ISBER will be hosting its first virtual conference October 22 and 23, 2020! This is a partnership in conjunction with the University Health Network of Toronto, Canada. Please stay tuned for more details!
To continue to address the needs of the membership, we are currently developing a new strategic plan. Thank you to all members who completed the member survey. Your responses will be carefully examined and evaluated by the ISBER leadership as we develop a new strategic plan.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Board of Directors and Committee Chairs who have worked tirelessly to advance the mission and vision of the association. We also wish to thank the members of the various committees, working groups, special interest groups, review boards, writing groups, and task forces that have contributed their time and expertise to the association. ISBER is what it is because of your collective efforts.
And, finally, we encourage all members to get involved in the association’s committees, working groups and special interest groups!
Sincerely,
Professor Daniel Catchpoole, President ISBER
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Organization Leadership and Staff
BOARD MEMBERS
Daniel Catchpoole, PhD, FFSc PRESIDENT May 2020 – May 2021 Tumor Bank, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead New South Wales, Australia
Debra Leiolani Garcia, MPA PAST-PRESIDENT May 2020 – May 2021 California, United States
Piper Mullins, MS PRESIDENT-ELECT May 2020 – May 2021 Smithsonian Institution Washington DC, United States
Jane Carpenter, MAppSciTREASURER May 2020 – May 2023 NSW Health Pathology New South Wales, Australia
Monique Albert, MS SECRETARY May 2020 – May 2023 Ontario Institute for Cancer Research Ontario, Canada
Diane McGarvey DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE – Americas Cooperative Human Tissue Network Eastern Division Pennsylvania, United States
Xun Xu DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE – China China National GeneBank Guangdong, China
Alison Parry-Jones, PhD, MA, MRSC DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE – Europe, Middle East, and Africa Wales Cancer Bank – Cardiff University South Glamorgan, United Kingdom
Koh Furuta, MD, PhD DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE – Indo-Pacific Rim Director, Urayasu Warakuen Clinic Urayasu, Japan
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Science Policy Advisory Marianna J. Bledsoe, MAColorado, United States
Organizing Advisory Zisis Kozlakidis, PhD, MBA, FLS IARC/WHO Lyon, France
Standards Advisory Daniel Simeon-Dubach, MD, MHAMedserviceWalchwil, Switzerland
Education and Training AdvisoryKristina Hill, MPH, MT (ASCP)North Broward HospitalFlorida, United States
Communications Advisory Catherine Seiler, PhDKaleido BiosciencesMassachusetts, United States
Member Relations AdvisoryShonali PaulCloudLIMS.comWilmington, United States
Marketing AdvisoryKerry WilesVanderbilt University Medical Center/CHTNTennessee, United States
Nicole BollingerUniversity HospitalsOhio, United States
2020 Scientific ProgramNahla Afifi, Rohit Gupta, Cheryl Michels
2021 Scientific ProgramAmanda Moors, Benjamin Otto
2019 Regional Meeting Scientific ProgramAllison Hubel, Rita Lawlor, Billy Schleif
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Organization Leadership and Staff
WORKING GROUP AND SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP CHAIRS
Biospecimen Science Working GroupFay Betsou and Kathi Shea
Enviro-Bio Working Group Piper Mullins
Informatics Working Group Kevin Meagher
International Repository Locator Working Group Yaffa Rubinstein and Esther van Enckevort
Pharma Working Group Lisa Miranda, Suenne Orth, and Pascal Puchois
Rare Diseases Working Group Yaffa Rubinstein
Regulatory & Ethics Working Group Scott Jewell and Madeleine Williams
Automated Repositories Special Interest Group Andy Zaayenga, Jessica Lesko, and Jessica Erbsen
Hospital-Integrated Biorepositories Special Interest Group Daniel Catchpoole
Next Generation Living Biobank Special Interest Group Xuefeng Liu and Jedd Lewis
Pediatrics Special Interest Group Suzanne Vercauteren
ISBER HEAD OFFICE
Executive Director Ana Torres, MPub, CAE
Senior Project Manager Samantha Wale, BA (Hons), PMP
Project Manager Elizabeth Sun, MM
Senior Association Coordinator Eva-Marie Sweet, BSc
Association Coordinator Jayden Goh, BSc
Meetings Director Paul Fogerty, BA
Database Director Paul Kool, BSc, AIT
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TOTAL ISBER MEMBERSHIP 1026 TOTAL MEMBERS, WHICH INCLUDES:
Individual Members
365
Small Organizations
124
Medium Organizations
69
Large Organizations
36
ISBER 2020 Membership Mid-Year Report
The membership query was performed on May 20, 2020.
In 2020, there were a total of 1026 memberships to date. This number includes Individual memberships and orga-nizational sub-accounts. Organizational Memberships have Sub-Accounts which are allocated with the following specifications:
Small Organizations: 2 Sub-accounts with 1 journal subscription to BIO Medium Organizations: 4 Sub-accounts with 2 journal subscriptions to BIO Large Organizations: 8 Sub-accounts with 4 journal subscriptions to BIO
ISBER MEMBERSHIP 2004 – 2020
INDIVIDUAL
2004
70 86 100 106 140204
237294 299 310 336
390
346 313316
355 359
5459
60 68
79
87
127
143 154 149140
156
145
128115
127 122
2227 22
23
28
36
44
4244 54
57
73
63
6760
62 67
2620 18
18
24
31
36
4345
4737
36
38
3630
35 36
2005 2006 2007 2011 20152009 2013 2017 2018 2019 20202008 2012 20162010 2014
MEDIUM ORGANIZATIONSMALL ORGANIZATION LARGE ORGANIZATION
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0 200 400 600 800 1000
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Americas
Americas
Europe, Middle East, Africa
Europe, Middle East, Africa
Indo-Pacific Rim
Indo-Pacific Rim
China
China
Individual Memberships
Individual Memberships
Organization Subaccounts
Organization Subaccounts
2020 ISBER MEMBERSHIP BY REGION
2020 ISBER ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP BY REGION
254
66
52
38
53
13
6
7
50
42
22
2 1
130
14 3
456
51 28
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2020 DISTRIBUTION BY COUNTRY
Country Individual Small Medium Large Sub-Account 2020 2019 2018
United States 225 53 43 27 416 641 566 553
Canada 25 13 7 0 44 69 60 56
Australia 18 7 1 2 25 43 46 34
United Kingdom 9 3 3 0 19 28 31 26
China 6 7 2 1 19 25 23 33
Germany 3 5 2 0 14 17 18 18
Belgium 3 3 2 0 13 16 17 15
South Korea 2 1 0 1 15 17 12 14
South Africa 4 4 1 0 10 14 12 10
Switzerland 7 2 1 0 6 13 11 13
India 9 2 0 0 4 13 10 4
Japan 14 0 0 0 0 14 12 12
Singapore 2 1 1 0 8 10 8 7
Norway 1 2 0 1 7 8 7 4
Ireland 2 1 1 0 6 8 8 4
Uganda 1 0 0 1 8 9 8 5
France 5 2 0 0 2 7 7 7
Luxembourg 2 0 1 0 5 7 6 6
Italy 0 3 0 0 4 4 4 3
Russia 0 3 0 0 4 4 3 2
Finland 0 0 1 0 5 5 5 5
Spain 0 2 0 0 4 4 6 6
Nigeria 1 0 1 0 3 4 2 1
Qatar 3 1 0 0 1 4 2 1
Ukraine 0 0 1 0 4 4 3 1
Czech Republic 1 1 0 0 2 3 5 2
Indonesia 3 1 0 0 0 3 4 3
Netherlands 3 0 0 0 1 4 6 4
Austria 0 1 0 0 2 2 3 2
Israel 0 1 0 0 2 2 2 1
Mexico 1 1 0 0 1 2 1 0
Colombia 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0
Denmark 2 0 0 0 0 2 5 4
Egypt 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 0
Malaysia 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
Puerto Rico 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1
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Country Individual Small Medium Large Sub-Account 2020 2019 2018
Saudi Arabia 0 1 0 0 1 1 3 3
Vietnam 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 0
Brazil 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
Gambia 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Greece 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Iran 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Kuwait 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
New Zealand 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 3
Philippines 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Poland 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sweden 1 0 0 0 0 1 6 4
Zimbabwe 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 364 124 69 36 656 1020 933 868
In 2020, ISBER’s global membership spans 50 countries! ISBER gained presence in the following countries: Greece, Iran, Malaysia, Northern Ireland, and Poland.
2020 ISBER MEMBERSHIP JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTIONS
Subscription Individual NEW Individual TOTAL Individual Sub-Accounts Total
No Journal 83 28 111 240 351
E-Journal 166 56 222 417 639
E- & Printed Journals 27 4 31 3 34
Total 276 88 364 660 1024
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Activity Report
ISBER MEETINGS
ISBER 2019 REGIONAL MEETING – MINNEAPOLIS, USA
In 2019, ISBER held a regional meeting and exhibits in Min-neapolis, USA from November 3-5. The Scientific Program Committee was led by Allison Hubel (USA), Rita Lawlor (It-aly), and Billy Schleif (USA), and included 22 members in addition to the co-chairs. The meeting theme was “Times they are a changin’: Biobanks for the Future”.
The meeting brought together 299 delegates and 27 ex-hibitors, and featured:
6 symposia sessions including 23 invited speakers 4 educational workshops 11 oral abstract presentations 48 poster presentations
4 roundtable discussions 1 pre-conference workshop: Biobanking 101 5 corporate sessions And various networking activities.
The first day of the meeting began with the keynote ad-dress given by Abasi Ene-Obong, CEO of 54gene on the topic of “Increasing Precision in Medicine: Accessing the Most Genetically Diverse Continent”.
In the meeting evaluation, 100% of participants noted that they were very satisfied (61%) or satisfied (39%) with attend-ing the meeting. In addition, meeting participants had the following things to say about their participation:
“I learned the latest in biobanking and reconnect[ed] with my global colleagues”
“It was very informative and gave great insight on the future of bio-banking”
“the work of the ISBER community is invaluable”.
ISBER 2020 ANNUAL MEETING – ANAHEIM, NOW THE ISBER 2020 EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM SERIES (VIRTUAL)
SPONSORED SESSION
7am PT • 10am ET • 4pm CET • 10pm CSTPresented by: Elisa Viering (Agilent Technologies, Germany) and Monique Albert (Ontario Biobank, Canada)
MONITORING NUCLEIC ACID INTEGRITY DURING LONG-TERM STORAGE WITH AUTOMATED ELECTROPHORESIS
Session Sponsored by:
REGISTERNOW!
Educational Program SeriesPresenting the ISBER 2020 Annual Meeting Virtually
JUNE 24
at isber.org
Global leaders were set to converge in April, 2020 at the ISBER 2020 Annual Meeting and Exhibits to address the impact of biobanks on science and how the related discov-eries are establishing a roadmap to extend our knowledge network. Unfortunately, this meeting was cancelled as a re-sult of the SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Scientific Program Committee was led by Nahla Afifi (Qatar), Rohit Gupta (USA), and Cheryl Michels (USA) and included 26 members and 5 advisors from 18 different countries.
Upon cancellation of the in-person meeting, the program committee quickly adapted to provide the educational content virtually as a webinar series entitled “ISBER 2020 Educational Program Series”. The series was built with flex-ibility in mind and currently includes 14 one-hour sessions spread out over 5 months from June to October, 2020. Sessions will be held as live, interactive events and will be recorded and available for on-demand viewing.
For more information regarding the webinar series and to register, please visit www.isber.org/isber-2020.
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ISBER’S COVID-19 RESPONSE
In response to the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) crisis, the IS-BER leadership quickly pivoted to meet the needs of the membership. We brought together international experts and speakers from thirteen countries—Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy Japan, Russia, Switzerland, USA. All ISBER COVID-19 activi-ties were open to both ISBER members and non-members free of charge. See the session descriptions available be-low. Furthermore, if you are interested in viewing the ses-sions, please visit www.isber.org/covid-19.
UNDERSTANDING COVID-19 WEBINAR
Presented by: Dr. Tristan Knight (Canada)
Beginning in December 2019, a novel coronavirus, des-ignated SARS-COV-2, has caused what rapidly became a global pandemic. The disease caused by SARS-COV-2, which has been designated COVID-19, appears to range from asymptomatic or mild, self-limited respiratory tract ill-ness to progressive pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multiorgan failure, and death. Optimal management of this condition has not yet been established, but in addition to supportive care, various combinations of glucocorticoids, tocilizumab, anti-virals, and anti-malarial agents have been utilized with varying degrees of effica-cy. Importantly, there is growing evidence of heightened vulnerability in immunocompromised patients. The impact of SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19 on the biobanking world is evolving, but likely to be profound. The purpose of this pre-sentation was to provide a rapid, comprehensive, and rele-vant update on the current state of COVID-19, with attention to the epidemiology, clinical presentation, and emerging therapeutic options.
VENDORS TOWNHALL
Chaired by: David Lewandowski (USA) and Benjamin Otto (Germany)
This townhall brought together ISBER with its vendor com-munity. The townhall aimed to address the needs of ven-dors, which differ from those of non-vendor members on normal days. They provided a platform to foster discussion, understanding, solution sharing, and identifying opportu-nities for ISBER to engage with the vendors. The vendors discussed opportunities relating to the ISBER annual and re-gional meetings, as well as opportunities to broaden ISBER’s audience and creative new ideas for engagement through-out the whole year.
THE COVID -19 IMPACT PART 1: PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE ACROSS INDO-PACIFIC RIM AND CHINA
THE COVID -19 IMPACT PART 2: PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE ACROSS THE AMERICAS AND EUROPE
Part 1 Presented by: Dr. Tasuaki Tsuruyama (Japan), Dr. Rongxing Gan (China), Dr. Jajah Fachiroh (Indonesia), Dr. Birendra Yadev (India), Dr. Koh Furuta (Japan), Dr. Wayne Ng (Australia), Dr. Xun Xu (China), Dr. Ravi Rayanade (India)
Part 2 Presented by: Heidi Wagner (Canada), Dr. Rita Lawlor (Italy), Dr. Marta Castelhano (United States)
The effects of COVID-19 on the scientific community are not yet clear. We do know, however, that the impact on biobanking will be profound. The International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) exists to serve the needs of our membership and biobanking com-munity. The objective of these town halls is to learn from biobankers and other related fields so that we can develop tools and best practices to support our community.
The purpose of the two town halls is to gather informa-tion, learn and interact with our colleagues to better un-derstand the scope of how the biobanking community is responding to the pandemic and how we are dealing with
WEBINARTUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2020 AT 9 A.M. PACIFIC Check your timezone here: www.worldtimebuddy.com
Presented by: Tristan Knight(Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada)
REGISTRATION IS FREE Visit www.isber.org/COVID-19 to register.
Understanding COVID-19
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COVID-19 today. Our goal is to glean some directives by exploring the following three questions that can be used as we negotiate this new situation.
BIOBANKING IN THE COVID ERA: HOW EARLY EXPERIENCES CAN TRANSLATE INTO ACTIONABLE WISDOM: SURVEY AND WEBINAR
Led by: Daniel Simeon-Dubach (Switzerland) and Clare Allocca (USA)
The ISBER Standards Committee held an interactive dis-cussion of initial findings from the recent ISBER Community COVID-19 Response survey. They shared a summary of ag-gregated data and selected scenarios demonstrating how tools and resources (e.g. Standards and Best Practices) can enable an appropriate crisis response.
They noted that thanks to the insightful contributions of the global biobanking community, we have an opportunity to support each other through the exchange of experiences, knowledge, and lessons learned. This webinar is a key step along the pathway to identifying gaps and potential solutions that will take biobank tools and resources to the next level.
Clare M. Allocca, Vice-Chair of the ISBER Standards Com-mittee (United States) presented a summary of the survey results. A panel discussion followed. Speakers included Marta Castelhano (United States), Shannon McCall (United States), Mieke De Wilde (Belgium), Monique Albert (Cana-da), Zisis Kozlakidis (France), and Koh Furuta (Japan). Q&A will be monitored by Daniel Simeon-Dubach, Chair of the ISBER Standards Committee (Switzerland), and Sergey Anisimov (Russia).
UPCOMING ISBER MEETINGS
The ISBER 2021 Annual Meeting & Exhibits is scheduled to take place from May 10 – 14, 2021 in Atlanta, USA. The Sci-entific Program Committee is being led by Amanda Moors (USA) and Benjamin Otto (Germany) and includes 25 mem-bers and 6 advisors representing 12 different countries.
The ISBER leadership and Organizing Committee are cur-rently investigating platforms to hold this meeting as both an in-person meeting and a virtual meeting.
ISBER is also currently in talks with our partner organizations regarding upcoming regional meetings. More information coming soon!
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QUALIFICATION IN BIOREPOSITORY SCIENCE (QBRS)
ISBER, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE ASCP BOARD OF CERTIFICATION, HAVE ANNOUNCED A NEW QUALIFICATION IN BIOREPOSITORY SCIENCE (QBRS) FOR BIOBANKERS.
Upon meeting specific educational and experience requirements for the qualification, candidates will be eligible to complete an online examination and, if successful, gain recognition for their skills and competencies as biobankers. We are expecting that the new qualification will help further the advancement of scientific discoveries through the field of biobanking. Biobanks are vital to medical research and precision medicine and require qualified professionals to obtain high quality results that will be useful in advancing biomedicine.
Given the global growth in the field of modern biobanking, there is a demand for ongoing education and professional-ization of this biomedical sector. ASCP BOC, our partner in this initiative, has a proven record of developing credential-ing programs on a worldwide level. This new qualification will help meet the needs of biobankers as a whole.
Applications are now open, and five individuals have successfully obtained this qualification in the first two months!
To be eligible for this Qualification, an applicant must satisfy the minimum requirements of one of several potential routes. Details about eligibility, reading lists, topic outlines, and more can be found at www.isber.org/qualification.
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ISBER COMMITTEE REPORTS
COMMUNICATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The goals of the Communication Committee are to provide leadership to the association’s internal and external communication activities and to provide recommendations to the Board regarding the association’s communications initiatives.
In the past year, the committee, in concert with head office, Board of Directors, committee chairs and the selected web devel-opment vendor have redesigned and launched the new ISBER website (www.isber.org). In addition to the new design and streamlined navigation, the new site is responsive (i.e. works on multiple devices), has a single login for the forums, simpler member registration, and consolidated news feed, calendar and overall content. We hope that this updated website improves member’s ability to communicate with one another and the society as a whole.
Additionally, the Communication Committee has contributed to the promotions of the ASCP-BOC Qualification in Biorepos-itory Science (QBRS) exam and updated CTRNet Essentials of Biobanking Course. We have also contributed to establishing guidelines for review of ISBER-related communications and distribution of external surveys to ensure consistency in our commu-nications and distribution of materials. The Communications Committee also provides an outlet for internal communications by publishing short news articles from ISBER membership in the ISBER News Blog (news.isber.org) and for external communica-tions by coordinating the ISBER Corner in Biopreservation and Biobanking.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The Education and Training Committee works to identify and implement mechanisms to ensure that ISBER members have access to state-of-the art information and tools to effectively operate repositories for the preservation of specimens for fu-ture research and analysis following best practices. The committee makes information on training courses and other educa-tional opportunities available to allow for the dissemination of methods and practices for performing efficient and effective biorepository activities. This committee has focused on the following key activities in the past year:
Educational workshops and webinar program development Veterinarian-specific biobank education CTRNET/ISBER Introduction to Biobanking course promotion and marketing.
MARKETING ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The goal of the Marketing Committee is to create opportunities for global marketing and partnership strategies highlight-ing ISBER’s tools, products and services; showcasing ISBER as the leading global go-to resource for biospecimen-related groups; and seeking ways to increase the global impact of the ISBER brand. This committee was relaunched in Spring 2019, and has focused on the New Product Award, ISBER 20th anniversary activities, promotion of member health and wellness activities at meetings, and attendee/vendor engagement activities at the 2019 Regional Meeting in Minneapolis.
MEMBER RELATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The Member Relations Committee creates opportunities for a diverse global membership to participate in sharing ideas and innovations in biobanking. The goals of the committee are to increase global membership, identify organizations for potential partnerships, and enhance vendor relations by creating a more flexible sponsorship program. In the past year, the committee has recognized volunteer contributions through the volunteer recognition program, redesigned the membership guide, au-thored the ISBER value proposition statement, and conceptualized membership drives.
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ORGANIZING ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The Organizing Advisory Committee (OAC) provides logistical decision-making support for the Society’s meetings and over-sees any active Scientific Program Committee. The annual and regional program committees report to OAC. Major committee activities include:
Initiated program planning for the Americas regional meeting in Minneapolis, MN. Task Force focused on strategically planning meeting locations, RFPs for the 2020 and 2021 meetings in Anaheim and
Atlanta, as well as out years 2022. Created new tools to reach out to biobanking sectors and communities. Identified ISBER speakers/planned sessions for non-ISBER biobanking meetings around the globe and the identifica-
tion of co-chairs and committee members for the future meetings.
SCIENCE POLICY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The purpose of the ISBER Science Policy Advisory Committee is to coordinate and to be a voice for the perspectives of the ISBER membership and the society on policy issues related to biological and environmental repositories. During the past year, the committee identified a number of priority issues for policy engagement, such as implementation of the EU-Gen-eral Data Protection Regulations (EU-GDPR) and the revisions to the US Common Rule, and developed plans to address them. A process was also drafted for policy engagement at the regional level, so that ISBER can follow more closely policy developments at the regional level and provide input when needed.
The committee established an EU-GDPR Taskforce, led by Dr. Rita Lawlor, to explore biobanking challenges resulting from the GDPR and identifying strategies to address them. The committee reviewed and provided comments on a number of guidance documents related to the EU-GDPR, as identified further below.
The committee continued to analyze and submit comments and policy statements on behalf of ISBER on important regula-tory and policy issues globally including the following:
Draft NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing The Application of GDPR to Biomedical Research Guidelines 3/2018 on the territorial scope of the GDPR (Article 3) – Version for public consultation – Adopted on 16
November 2018.
Over the coming year, the committee will be exploring the following issues: return of research results from biobanks, challeng-es related to specimen and data sharing with China, the Nagoya Protocol, and ELSI issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
STANDARDS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The Standards Committee serves as a conduit between ISBER and the biobanking standardization community and its stake-holders. Major committee activities include:
ISBER Best Practices, 4th edition Translations / Addendum on LN cryogenic storage / Internal Audit Tool Development of qualification examination for biobank technicians (ISBER & ASCP BOD) Facilitation of ISBER input into ISO 20387:2018 Biobanking – General requirements for biobanks.
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NEW WEBSITE LAUNCH
The ISBER website received a major facelift in mid-May. Though it may appear that this change only took a few days, this is was an update nearly 2 years in the making. As ISBER has grown in scope and activity, the website too has grown since its last redevelopment in 2013. With this in mind, in 2018, we released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to identify a company to evaluate the website in the context of the cur-rent and future needs of our members and growing ISBER family, to see what is working (and what is not) and to obtain a sitemap for reorganizing the website.
Working with our selected partner, Denman Digital, Head Office, and the Communication Committee as well as in-put from the Board of Directors (BOD) and Committee Chairs (CC), they undertook the evaluation of the website and ultimately recommendations for sweeping changes of the site. However, at all times we aimed to keep the web-site’s purpose front and center – communication with both members and non-members to:
1. Provide vital information about biobanking manage-ment to the ISBER community
2. Inform and educate non-members about ISBER membership
3. Provide ISBER members with an online community 4. Provide an e-commerce solution (to handle the
business side of ISBER, e.g., memberships, meeting registration and other purchases)
After receiving the recommendations for the updated site-map and streamlined content, the real work began. Den-man created “wireframes” to mock-up the new look and feel of the site. Web pages that were recommended for removal (because they were duplicative, weren’t accessed
regularly, or no longer relevant) were reviewed and final-ized. Text on all pages was completely re-written by Head Office for consistency and clarity. And at all times, we kept in mind what would bring the most value and improve-ment to our membership!
Finally in May 2020, after usability testing by BOD and CCs, the new site was launched (www.isber.org) with the following new updates and features:
A sleek, modern new design Simplified navigation and menu Fewer steps to join as a new member or to renew your
membership Responsive site to easily explore the website on your
phone or tablet Single login for the forums. Once you log in at ISBER.
org, you will automatically logged into the forums Updated calendar and news pages Removal of outdated pages and content Simplified way of accessing videos
As you explore ISBER’s new home, please let us know what you think, if you find any links that are broken, or have any questions by emailing us at [email protected]. In the next few months, we will also be releasing short videos to show you how to better navigate the new website. Moving forward, we plan to use this website to provide even more value to you – our members! Keep an eye out as we roll out more webinars, videos, resources, and vendor information.
Finally, thank you again to Head Office, the Communica-tion Committee, the Board of Directors, and the Commit-tee Chairs for all their assistance in input in making this new site a reality!
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ESSENTIALS OF BIOBANKING
ISBER IS PLEASED TO PARTNER WITH THE CANADIAN TISSUE REPOSITORY NETWORK (CTRNET) TO DELIVER THE ‘ESSENTIALS OF BIOBANKING’ COURSE.
The ‘Essentials of Biobanking’ is available to ISBER members and non-members alike and is updated to ISBER Best Practices 4th edition. The entire course of nine modules is designed to be applicable to those handling research biospecimens such as biobank technicians, consent coordinators, project managers, and other staff.
Content has been adapted with ancillary material to be applicable to different country-specific issues (e.g., in the areas of ethics, laws, regulations, etc.) including those in the United States, Australia, and Germany.
While focused on human biobanking, this education module is applicable to those in the non-human biobanking sector as well.
This course is offered in English and in French. Learners can access the education at any time at their own pace.
The modules for this course:
1. The Basics of Biobanking – An introductory over-view of biobanking, which includes key issues in es-tablishing, maintaining and accessing a biobank.
2. Governance – Introduces the concept of biobank governance and its importance to the everyday opera-tions of a biobank.
3. Ethics, Privacy and Security – Discusses the im-portance of ensuring that biospecimens and personal health-related information are used ethically and opti-mally for research purposes.
4. Facility Design and Safety – Provides you with in-formation on the fundamental physical components of a biobank facility. It also covers the importance of bio-bank facility design and security in maintaining a safe environment.
5. Quality Management and Process Improve-ment – Provides general information on the impor-tance of quality management and process improve-ment for biobanks.
6. Informed Consent – Identifies and describes pro-cesses related to informed consent in the biobank setting.
7. Biospecimen Collection and Processing – Pro-vides an overview of the types of biospecimens com-monly collected and stored in a biobank and the procedures involved in biospecimen collection and processing.
8. Biospecimen Storage and Distribution – Pro-vides an overview of proper biospecimen storage, retrieval and sample distribution procedures for a biobank.
9. Data Systems and Records Management – Pro-vides an overview of the types of data systems and re-cords management systems used for storing biospeci-men data.
ESSENTIALS OF BIOBANKINGformerly “Introduction to Biobanking”
in partnership
with:
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AMERICAS
The Americas region presently has over 600 ISBER mem-bers, covering two continents. Members from the Ameri-cas region are very active, contributing to every committee, working group, and special interest group, and of course adding valuable commentary to the ISBER forum.
ISBER has had a presence at a number of non-ISBER meet-ings or conferences to communicate its resources, either through having a booth, offering a workshop, attending or providing speakers. These include:
Latin-American Symposium and training in biobanking of the Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, Brazil, May 2019 (invited speakers: Zisis Kozlakidis and Marianne Henderson)
CRYO conference, San Diego, USA, July 2019 in (at-tendee: David Lewandowski).
GU Biobank Symposium, Toronto, Canada, October 2019 (keynote speakers: Marianna Bledsoe and Mo-nique Albert).
A number of ISBER-Americas members continue to con-tribute their expertise towards the development of ISO/TC 276 – Biotechnology by participating in their country’s respective mirror committees (Canada: Ayat Salman, Brent Schacter, Monique Albert; USA: Clare Allocca, Marianna Bledsoe, Marta Castelhano and Nilsa Ramirez).
Ayat Salman (Canada), Andy Zaayenga (USA), Hugo Barrera Saldana (Mexico), and Antonio Hugo Campos (Brazil) have brought their enthusiasm to the role of Regional Ambassa-dor to the Americas region. With the RA pilot phase now complete, the Americas region will be increasing the num-ber of RAs from four to six over 2020. Together, the RAs have helped to communicate ISBER events and resources more broadly, but also either identified or agreed to lead opportunities where ISBER’s resources can be further de-veloped to meet unique needs in the region. Examples in-clude: Andy Zaayenga (USA) has been recruited to co-chair a Task Force intended to more clearly define volunteer en-gagement through to leadership and beyond (a benefit to ISBER as a whole); Hugo Barrera Saldana (Mexico), and An-tonio Hugo Campos (Brazil) are co-chairing a Latin-Ameri-can Survey Task Force, to gather data on the unique needs and interests of biobankers in these countries.
A successful regional meeting was held in Minneapolis, USA, November 2019, welcoming 299 attendees. While we were not able to meet in-person as intended at the annual conference in Anaheim, California, USA, in April 2020, much of the planned content is available via the IS-BER 2020 Educational Program Series. We miss you and hope to see you again in May 2021, in Atlanta, USA!
Regional Reports
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CHINA
The past year has seen increasing involvement of Chinese biobankers in networking and communication activities within ISBER. In early 2020, China has endured a rough COVID-19 outbreak and launched a resolute battle to pre-vent and control its spread. Despite strict quarantine policy, Chinese biobankers worked actively together to form rapid responses to such a public health challenge.
ISBER ambassadors collaborated with local biobankers to build a biobank information exchange network via WeChat and to release biobank information to the public to increase public awareness.
On May 13, 2020, Dr. Xun Xu and Dr. Rongxing Gan each gave a speech to the ISBER COVID-19 Town Hall with the theme of “Preparedness and response across Indo-pacific rim and China”. Together with other speakers, they discussed and exchanged with partici-pants on the scope of how the biobanking community is responding to the pandemic.
Working with International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a subsidiary of the World Health Organization (WHO), BGI-Research/CNGB facilitated 2 large COVID-19 research projects. COVID-19 data from CNGBdb will be compared to the data from samples analyzed within Europe. These projects are urgently needed in order to achieve a rapid successful public health response.
The COVID-19 special issue of ISBER’s official magazine Biopreservation and Biobanking was promoted. Chi-nese scientists were encouraged to submit paper.
Chinese members have joined and been contribut-ing to various ISBER committees, such as Standard Committee, Member Relations Committee, Marketing Advisory Committee, etc.
Communication between ISBER and other international or-ganizations was also maintained.
ISO/TC 276: Kept up to date on TC276 affairs and par-ticipated in the discussion on relevant ISO certification in biobanking, such as ISO14000.
GGBN: Discussed the proposal of ISBER holding back-to-back conference with GGBN in 2020 (though cancelled due to later development of the COVID-19). Invited key-note speakers from ISBER to GGBN annual meeting.
Chinese biobankers continued to push forward develop-ment of the standards on collection, processing, transpor-tation and storage requirements for plant and animal ge-netic resources.
Standard projects in collection, processing, trans-portation and storage requirements for plant and animal biological material started ballot as DTS (ISO/CD 23105 &ISO/CD 20388). The projects are led by China National GeneBank.
The Liquid Nitrogen-based Cryogenic Storage of Specimens Best Practices Addendum was translated in Chinese by a working group of about 30 institutes and published in January.
Project ISO/WD 24063 “The establishment, mainte-nance, characterization and distribution requirements for pluripotent stem cells” led by Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences in ISO/TC 276 WG2 moved forward to working draft stage.
The Quality, Safety and Standards Department of China National GeneBank participated in the second phase of the GGBN BPTF (Biobank Procedure Task Force) Working Group Project to improve the estab-lishment of standard processes among biobanks and to incorporate ISBER practice references.
Bilateral dialogue with ISBER committees was facil-itated to enhance exchanges on best practices and policy trends as well as pushing the frontier of scientific research and innovative technologies in biobanking.
Regional Reports
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EUROPE, THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
ISBER members from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) continue to be very active in ISBER committees, task forces, working groups, special interest groups and in contributions to the ISBER discussion forum. EMEA mem-bers have been at the forefront of planning ISBER meetings with one Program Committee Co-Chair for the regional Minneapolis meeting (Nov 2019) and one for the annual meeting in Anaheim in 2020 from the region. The EMEA region has the second highest membership level within ISBER and the Director-at-Large (DAL) and Regional Ambas-sadors are working hard to promote ISBER and make ISBER tools and resources visible to biobankers around the region to encourage new members to join.
The six Regional Ambassadors (RA) from EMEA have col-laborated on a publication that has recently been accept-ed by the Biopreservation and Biobanking journal. Their ‘experts speak’ article entitled ‘Biobanking Spotlight on Europe, Middle-East and Africa: presenting the collective experience of the ISBER EMEA Regional Ambassadors’ out-lined the challenges and achievements that remain at the top of the biobanking agenda for the ISBER-EMEA region, with responses on:
1. The existing challenges in sharing samples and data and: whether there is an expectation that the challeng-es will be addressed in some way, locally or interna-tionally for the region;
2. The Biobanks’ impact assessment: how biobanks in the region are expected to deliver impactful work and how that is measured and
3. The two highest priority issues in their respective re-gion with regards to biobanking.
The RAs have contributed reports of local and national bio-banking meetings for the ISBER news, including a report from a workshop organised by the Russian National Medi-cal Research Centre for Preventive Medicine (Moscow) and the Russian National Association of Biobanks and Biobank-ing specialists (NASBio), entitled ‘Bases of Biobanking’. The attendees who won the testing following the prac-tical sessions were presented with copies of the Russian translation of ISBER Best Practices: Recommendations for Repositories 4th Edition.
The Best Practices has now been translated into three lan-guages relevant to the EMEA region (Spanish, Russian and Farsi) and a fourth (French) will be available soon.
Two events in the COVID-19 Discussion and Information Se-ries of webinars and Townhalls featured EMEA participants giving their experiences of the challenges and adaptations made by biobanks in response to the global pandemic. The second part of the Townhall series (Preparedness and Response Across the Americas and Europe) featured the notable repurposing of a biobank in Verona, Italy to a test-ing laboratory for COVID-19. The pandemic will undoubt-edly change the ways biobanks operate but the support and knowledge sharing available to the EMEA biobanking community through ISBER involvement will help members to thrive in the ‘new normal’.
Regional Reports
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INDO-PACIFIC RIM
The ISBER Indo-Pacific Rim (IPR) now has four Regional Ambassadors (RA), including Wayne Ng (Australia), Biren-dra Yadav (India), Tatsuaki Tsuruyama (Japan), and the most recent addition, Jajah Fachiroh (Indonesia). The regional Director-At-Large (DAL) and RAs have held monthly meet-ings since last July to share ideas and discuss projects. Bio-bankers in the IPR region have been invited to join some of these meetings. Meeting summaries are available here: https://from-tokyo-ipr-dal-report.jimdosite.com/isber-dalreport/isber-dal-report-contents/
There has been a number of activities in the region, including:
1. National Liver Diseases Biobank meeting: This interna-tional biobanking symposium was organized by the National Liver Disease Biobank (NLDB) on February 20 – 21, 2020 in New Delhi India. Dr. Daniel Catchpoole made a presentation on behalf of ISBER. Birendra Ya-dav contributed and led this meeting.
2. Australasian Biospecimen Network Association (ABNA) meeting: This annual meeting was held on Oc-tober 16 – 18, 2019 in Cairns, Australia. Wayne Ng was invited and made a presentation. During his presenta-tion, Koh Furuta gave a short greeting to the audience by video message.
3. Virtual town hall meeting: The COVID-19 Impact Part I: Preparedness and Response Across Indo-Pacific Rim and China Town Hall was held on May 14, 2020, with all RAs actively participating along with colleagues from around the IPR and China regions. This session successfully attracted 177 attendees.
Upcoming activities include:
1. The IPR RAs are preparing an article titled “Diverse bio-bank responses in two Low and Middle Income Coun-tries (LMICs) and two High-Income Countries (HICs) in the IPR region”.
2. Although our workshop, “Environmental Consider-ations when Biobanking in Extreme Conditions such as the IPR Region”, was cancelled due to the 2020 Annual Meeting cancellation, we hope to run this workshop at a different opportunity in the future. Tatsuaki Tsuruyama is leading this project.
The IPR DAL and RAs are focused on contributing to the fol-lowing issues in the region:
1. Cooperation and Collaboration: To facilitate setting up a better environment for individuals, private sector, and academics through opportunities including pub-lic-private partnerships.
2. Embracement of Diversity: To facilitate setting up a bet-ter environment for non-human biobanking fields (es-pecially marine biology) and for countries and regions of different economical stages.
3. Education and Training: To facilitate setting up a bet-ter environment for dissemination of basic knowledge and skills in biobanking, such as infrastructure for bio-banking education, certification, etc. This group also hopes to focus on opportunities for the dissemina-tion of knowledge and skills by non-English language media.
Regional Reports
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Strategic Plan 2021
ISBER’s current strategic plan expires this year. We have start-ed the process of collecting information to develop a new strategic plan which will be released to the membership in January 2021. We have completed a members survey and stakeholder interviews will be held throughout the summer to discuss with our partners how we may further the vision of the association.
2020 has been an unusual, business-changing year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ISBER cancelled its 2020 meet-ing and has replaced it with a webinar series. It is clear that the impact of the pandemic is going to continue to affect
ISBER’s conferences and events for the next 18 months. Therefore, we will change the horizon of the strategic plan from a three year plan to an 18 month plan. The rationale for a time-limited plan is that the business environment is changing too quickly right now. We do not know what the world will look like in a year. We should focus this plan on creating a mission, vision and action plan for how ISBER will address the upcoming 18-months of turbulence and the most likely scenario from business planning.
STRATEGIC PLAN 2017-2020
The board and committee chairs have continued to work through the action plan developed in 2017. The key achievements since this plan was adopted include:
Releasing the ISBER Best Practices, 4th Edition and Best Practices Addendum
We have disseminated the Best Practices 4th Edition and Addendum widely throughout the world in a number of different languages.
Publications committee evolved into Communications committee, secured leadership and membership.
Created a Standards Committee Revised the corporate sponsorship and meeting spon-
sorship program to meet the needs of the vendors and provide more flexible sponsorship options
Re-invigorated the vendors relationship task force under the membership committee
Participated in important efforts to shape the develop-ment of global regulations, policies and standards
Hosted a meeting with BBMRI-ERIC and ESBB in Sep-tember 2017
Held a Biospecimen Research Symposium in February 2018 and 2019
Developed and released the Qualification for Bio-Re-pository Science
Started webcasting key sessions at our annual and regional conferences
Conducted a governance review of committee Terms of Reference to ensure consistency and new leader-ship engagement.
Established a Leadership Engagement Plan We diversified the geographic representation in our
awards programs and committees Developed a new volunteer recognition policy Evaluated LMIC and UMIC membership rates Created a special category for ELSI professionals. Ensured engagement from the vendor community on
committees and leadership Created a structure for holding regional conferences Created a policy engagement strategy Established Internal Audit Tools Task Force Released a new website.
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Biopreservation and Biobanking Annual Report
As noted on its website Biopreservation and Biobanking (BIO) is the first journal to provide a unifying forum for the peer-reviewed communication of recent advances in the emerging and evolving field of biospecimen procurement, processing, preservation and banking, distribution, and use. The journal continues to publish a range of original articles focusing on current challenges and problems in biopreservation, and advances in methods to address these issues related to the processing of macromolecules, cells, and tissues for research. It also explores the ethical, legal, and societal considerations surrounding biobanking and biorepository operation. Ideas and practical solutions relevant to improved quality, efficiency, and sustainability of repositories, and relating to their management, operation and oversight are discussed as well.
The impact factor for BIO as of June 2020 is 1.9, reflecting citations of BIO papers in 2019, for articles published in 2017 and 2018. In 2018 and 2019 the impact factor had been 1.8 and 1.4, respectively, so the journal experienced a significant increase in 2020. The journal is making good progress and continues to show growth on many fronts.
Full text downloads of BIO articles have continued to increase significantly every year. There were 68,000 full-text down-loads in 2019, 30,000 more than the prior year; a tremendous increase of 78%! Full text download statistics are an indica-tion of both the interest of readers in the journal’s articles, as well as promising news for the long-term prospects for BIO in terms of subscriptions. For the impact factor to increase, these downloads need to translate into citations of BIO articles. In terms of manuscript submissions, we had a total of 133 in each of 2018 and 2019. In 2019 we increased the rejection rate to 56%, which means that we can to continue to be selective in publishing high quality original research articles and reviews in 6 issues each year.
Over the past few years, BIO has published a number of special sections and issues that covered a variety of topics: Bio-banking in emerging countries; economics and sustainability; biobank disaster preparation; biobanking in China; and ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI). The Editorial Board and ISBER colleagues in particular have been very proactive in suggesting ideas for special topics. Often such ideas from ISBER annual meeting sessions, and the session chairs will send me a note to suggest a special issue or section.
The June 2019 issue of BIO was a special issue about biobank and biospecimen utilization. A special thanks to Bill Grizzle, Marianna Bledsoe and Peter Watson for organizing the content of the special issue. It’s important that we recognize that there are a number of factors that affect the utilization of biospecimens. In some cases, a biobank’s model for sample usage is inadequate and the biobanks hold too many samples for too long, which is not a good approach in terms of research goals and is not respectful of the patient/donor’s expectations when they donate samples.
Two special sections appeared in December 2019 and February 2020, on Biobanking in Qatar and Biobanking Education, respectively. The Qatar biobanking papers were based on a meeting in Doha in February 2019 that focused on Qatar’s contributions to biobanking, as well as a general focus on global approaches to quality management. The biobanking ed-ucation papers outlined several international approaches to providing opportunities to students to obtain degrees or other credentials that will contribute to the continuing professionalization of biobanking.
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As the COVID-19 pandemic has become the primary global health concern, we have started to respond with articles in BIO. I wrote an editorial “Biobanking During the COVID-19 Pandemic, which has been published online and appeared in the June 2020 issue. We are also planning a special COVID-19 issue of BIO, which will likely comprise the December 2020 issue. Articles are being submitted from China, Africa, Europe, Australia, Canada and the U.S., which will address a variety of technical and medical aspects of biobankers’ response to the pandemic. BIO’s publisher Mary Ann Liebert is also making dozens of COVID-19 articles from its journals freely available. See: https://home.liebertpub.com/lpages/coronavirus-resource-center/254/.
To view and read all BIO articles, freely available to ISBER members, visit https://home.liebertpub.com/publications/biopreservation-and-biobanking/110/overview.
As always, many thanks to BIO’s Editor in Chief Jim Vaught, and Deputy Editors Marianna Bledsoe, Dayong Gao, and Peter Watson, and European Editor William Mathieson, A special thanks is in order to Rongxing Gan, who served as the Asian Editor. Due to a very busy schedule, Dr. Gan stepped down in 2019. We welcome the new Asian Editor Dr. Junmei Zhou of Shanghai Children’s Hospital. Dr. Zhou is already very busy processing papers from China and other countries in the region. In 2019, manuscript submissions from China were higher than any other country, with manuscripts being received from 32 countries. We continue to have significant numbers of articles being submitted from Japan and other countries in the region.
The editorial board members’ excellent efforts in selecting reviewers and recommending action for articles are critical to BIO’s continued success. BIO’s authors, reviewers, and readers of course also are critical elements in the journal’s advance-ment. The feedback BIO is getting in terms of most-read articles, and the unique perspective of the journal in terms of subject matter, continue to be critical to the journal’s success and support of ISBER’s mission.
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2020 Award Recipients
ISBER 2020 OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN BIOBANKING
ISBER 2020 FOUNDER’S AWARD
Helen Moore Frank Simione
ISBER 2020 DISTINGUISHED LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE AWARD
ISBER 2020 TRAVEL AWARD
Kathi Shea Bushra Allah Rakha
ISBER 2020 SPECIAL SERVICE AWARDS
Jason Chen Dayong Gao Marianne Henderson Diane McGarvey Brent Schacter
Sponsored bySponsored by
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SPONSORS FOR THE ISBER 2020 ANNUAL MEETING
We wish to thank our sponsors who had confirmed support for our ISBER 2020 Annual Meeting & Exhibits in Anaheim, USA:
DIAMOND SPONSOR
PLATINUM SPONSOR
GOLD SPONSORS
SILVER SPONSORS
BRONZE SPONSORS TOWN HALL SPONSOR
ISBER 2020 Annual Meeting Sponsors and Exhibitors
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EXHIBITORS FOR THE ISBER 2020 ANNUAL MEETING
We wish to thank the following exhibitors who were set to participate at the ISBER 2020 Annual Meeting in Anaheim:
• A2LA• Abbott Informatics• Abeyance Cryo Solutions• ABS Inc.• Across International• ADS Biotec Inc.• Agilent Technologies, Inc.• Kaye• ASKION• Autoscribe Informatics Inc.• Avantor• Bahnson Environmental Specialties, LLC.• Biologix Corporation• BioStor Systems LLC• Bluechiip• Brady Corporation• Brooks Life Sciences• Bruker BioSpin• BSI Systems• Chart MVE• CloudLIMS.com• College of American Pathologists• Coriell Institute for Medical Research• Coris Life Science Monitoring• Cryotherm• Ellab, Inc.• ELPRO• Eppendorf• Farrar Scientific• Fluidigm Corp.• Freezerworks• GA International
• Genepoint• Genohm, A part of Agilent• Greiner Bio-One North America, Inc.• Hamilton Storage• LabVantage Solutions, Inc.• LabWare Inc.• Liconic Instruments• LVL technologies GmbH & Co. KG• Micronic America• Modul-Bio• OpenSpecimen• PerkinElmer• PHC Corporation of North America• Rees Scientific• RUCDR Infinite Biologics• SciSafe, Inc.• So-Low Environmental Equipment• SPT Labtech• Stirling Ultracold• Superior BioDiagnostics• The Brain Donor Project• Thermo Fisher Scientific• TubeWriter• TWD Tradewinds, Inc.• Unchained Labs• Worthington Industries Life Sciences• Ziath LLC• Zymo Research Corp
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We wish to thank our sponsors who contributed to the ISBER 2019 Regional Meeting and Exhibits in Minneapolis:
GOLD SPONSORS
SILVER SPONSORS
BRONZE SPONSORS
SPONSORS FOR THE ISBER 2019 REGIONAL MEETING
• A2LA• Abbott Informatics• Agilent Technologies• Autoscribe Informatics, Inc.• Bahnson Environmental
Specialties, LLC.• Bluechiip• Brooks Life Sciences• Bruker BioSpin • BSI Systems
• College of American Pathologists• Coris Life Sciences Monitoring• Cryotherm• Ellab, Inc.• Farrar Scientific• Fluidigm• Freezerworks• Hamilton Storage• iSpecimen• KAYE
• Liconic• Micronic• NBS Scientific• OpenSpecimen• PHC Corporation of North
America• Scinomix• Thermo Fischer Scientific• TTP Labtech• Ziath LLC
EXHIBITORS FOR THE ISBER 2019 REGIONAL MEETING
We wish to thank the following exhibitors who participated at the ISBER 2019 Regional Meeting and Exhibits in Minneapolis:
ISBER 2019 Regional Meeting Sponsors and Exhibitors
Financial StatementsStatement of Financial Position ...................... 33
Statement of Activities ................................. 34
Statement of Changes in Net Assets ............... 35
Statement of Cash Flows............................... 36
Notes to the Financial Statements .................. 37
Unaudited Financial InformationSchedule of Conference Revenues ................. 45 and Expenses (Unaudited)
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Independent Auditor's Report
To the Board of Directors of International Society for Biological & Environmental Repositories
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of International Society for Biological & EnvironmentalRepositories (the "Society"), which comprise the Statement of Financial Position as at December 31,2019, and the Statements of Activities, Changes in Net Assets and Cash Flows for the year then ended,and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies.
In our opinion, the accompanying financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, thefinancial position of the Society as at December 31, 2019, and its results of operations and its cashflows for the year then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in theUnited States of America.
Basis for Opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards. Ourresponsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s Responsibilities for theAudit of the Financial Statements section of our report. We are independent of the Society inaccordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements inCanada, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis forour opinion.
Other Matter - Unaudited Information
We have not audited, or attempted to verify the accuracy or completeness of the schedule on page 15of the Society's financial statements.
Responsibilities of Management and Those Charged with Governance for the Financial Statements
Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements inaccordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, and for suchinternal control as management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financialstatements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, management is responsible for assessing the Society’s ability tocontinue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using thegoing concern basis of accounting unless management either intends to liquidate the Society or tocease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.
Those charged with governance are responsible for overseeing the Society’s financial reporting process.
Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a wholeare free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s reportthat includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee thatan audit conducted in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards will alwaysdetect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and areconsidered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influencethe economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
2
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Independent Auditor's Report
Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements (continued)
As part of an audit in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards, we exerciseprofessional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also:
Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether dueto fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtainaudit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk ofnot detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting fromerror, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or theoverride of internal control.
Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design auditprocedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing anopinion on the effectiveness of the Society’s internal control.
Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accountingestimates and related disclosures made by management.
Conclude on the appropriateness of management’s use of the going concern basis of accountingand, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related toevents or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Society’s ability to continue as agoing concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to drawattention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, ifsuch disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the auditevidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditionsmay cause the Society to cease to continue as a going concern.
Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, includingthe disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions andevents in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the plannedscope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies ininternal control that we identify during our audit.
Chartered Professional Accountants
Vancouver, British ColumbiaApril 22, 2020
3
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International Society for Biological & Environmental RepositoriesStatement of Activities
For the year ended December 31 2019 2018
Revenues without donor restrictionsMembership - corporate $ 163,477 $ 161,004Membership - individual 75,256 75,516Publications 6,988 13,342Education 8,540 9,511Other operating revenue 27,429 5,646
Total operating revenue 281,690 265,019
Annual meeting 610,929 854,657Regional meeting - Luxembourg - 135,888Regional meeting - Berlin 74,152 -Regional meeting - Minneapolis 220,897 -
Total meeting revenue 905,978 990,545
1,187,668 1,255,564
ExpensesAccounting and legal 32,326 16,998Bank and credit card 7,730 11,386Board and council meetings 49,984 51,705Committees - Communication 13,318 9,503Committees - Marketing and membership 177 4,657Committees - Organizing advisory 5,084 -Committees - Standards 433 54,571Consulting fees 3,538 4,250Currency exchange loss 21,296 6,561Database and licensing fees 13,491 13,571Insurance 4,932 6,378Management fees (Note 6) 99,990 98,578Marketing and promotion 5,721 6,060Office and miscellaneous 10,441 10,814Publication subscription fee 62,287 57,175Site visit 6,040 6,457Strategic outreach 9,734 24,647Staff travel 623 4,918
Total general and administrative expenses 347,145 388,229
Annual meeting 792,180 666,400Future meetings 5,787 4,699Regional meeting - Luxembourg - 135,839Regional meeting - Berlin 98,100 -Regional meeting - Minneapolis 211,728 -
Total meeting expenses 1,107,795 806,938
1,454,940 1,195,167
Change in net assets without donor restrictions $ (267,272) $ 60,397
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements5
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International Society for Biological & Environmental RepositoriesStatement of Changes in Net Assets
For the year ended December 31 2019 2018
Unrestricted net assets - without donor restrictions:
Unrestricted net assets, beginning of the year $ 786,946 $ 726,549
Increase (decrease) in unrestricted net assets from operations (267,272) 60,397
Unrestricted net assets, end of year $ 519,674 $ 786,946
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements6
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International Society for Biological & Environmental RepositoriesStatement of Cash Flows
For the year ended December 31 2019 2018
Cash flows from operating activitiesIncrease (decrease) in net assets from operations $ (267,272) $ 60,397
Adjustments to reconcile change in net assets to net cashprovided by operating activities:
Non-cash itemsAccrued interest in investments (18,587) (1,850)
(Increase) decrease in operating assetsAccounts receivable and accrued revenues 18,798 4,042Prepaid expenses 77,824 (44,268)
Increase (decrease) in operating liabilitiesAccounts payable and accrued liabilities 142,361 (37,555)Deferred revenue 96,508 (61,636)
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities 49,632 (80,870)
Cash flows from investing activitiesInvestment in intangible assets (11,425) -
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 38,207 (80,870)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year 489,229 570,099
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year $ 527,436 $ 489,229
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements7
Annual Report 2020
37
International Society for Biological & Environmental RepositoriesNotes to the Financial Statements
December 31, 2019
1. Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
(a) Organization
The International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (the "Society")was incorporated in 2013, as a non-profit corporation under the general laws of theState of Illinois. The Society has been organized to operate exclusively for charitable,scientific, and educational purposes, as those terms are defined in section 501(c)(3) ofthe Internal Revenue Code of 1986, including, but not limited to, sharing ideas andinnovations in bio-banking and participating in the harmonization of approaches toevolving challenges for biological and environmental repositories. The activities of theSociety are funded primarily through educational conferences and membership dues.
(b) Basis of Accounting
The accompanying financial statements of the Society are presented using the accrualbasis of accounting in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in theUnited States of America ("U.S. GAAP") and presented in U.S. dollars.
(c) Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Society considers all highly liquid instruments, which are to be used for currentoperations and which have an original maturity of three months or less, to be cash andcash equivalents.
(d) Investments
Investments consist of certificates of deposit. These investments have a maturity ofgreater than three months and therefore are classified as financial assets and aremeasured at fair value.
(e) Accounts Receivables and Accrued Revenues
Accounts receivables consist primarily of payments in transit from credit cardproviders, sales tax recoveries, bill-backs, interest, commission and publicationroyalties receivable. The Society records an allowance for doubtful accounts. Theallowance is based upon the Society's policy and management's analysis of accounts.Trade receivable are written off if reasonable collection efforts prove unsuccessful.
(f) Intangible Assets
Intangible assets are recorded at historical costs and amortized on a straight-linemethod, commencing when they are put into use, over the following useful life:
Website 4 years
(g) Impairment of Long-lived Assets
The Society reviews long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes incircumstances indicate that the carrying value of an asset may not be recoverable.Impairment losses, if any, are recognized when estimated future cash flows(undiscounted and without interest charges) derived from such assets are less than theircarrying values.
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Annual Report 2020
38
International Society for Biological & Environmental RepositoriesNotes to the Financial Statements
December 31, 2019
1. Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Continued)
(h) Deferred Revenues
All amounts received for conferences and membership dues relating to services to beperformed in future periods are deferred until the services are delivered in futureperiods. Revenues relating to conference activities are recognized when conferencesare held. Membership dues revenues are recognized over the term of membership.
(i) Unrestricted Net Assets - without donor restrictions
Unrestricted net assets represent the accumulated net surplus of unrestricted revenuesover expenses. It is available for use by the Society in furtherance of its mission.
(j) Revenue Recognition
Membership fees are invoiced annually and memberships expire on December 31.Membership fees receivable are recorded when collection is reasonably assured and arerecognized as revenue during the applicable membership period. Annual conference andother meeting revenues are reported in the fiscal year in which the conference is held.Amounts received in advance from members, sponsors and attendees for meetingsoccurring in the following fiscal year are recorded as deferred revenues.
Publication revenues include royalties received from the publisher managing theSociety's journal and subscription fees. These are recorded when the amount is readilydeterminable and collection is reasonably assured.
Education revenues include the registration fees for the Introduction to BiobankingCourse and are recorded as earned and when the amount is readily determinable andcollection is reasonably assured.
Other revenues include interest income, as well as unrealized gains on investments.Other items included are for amounts earned from mailing lists and webinars. These arerecorded when the amount is readily determinable and collection is reasonably assured.
(k) Expenses
Expenses are recognized during the period in which they are incurred. Expenses paid inadvance for services or goods not yet received are deferred to the applicable period.
(l) Tax Exemption
The Society has been granted exemption by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) fromfederal income taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). TheIRS has also determined that the Society is not a private foundation. The Society isrequired to report and pay taxes on unrelated business income to the IRS and otherlocal jurisdictions. There was no liability for unrelated business income taxes as ofDecember 31, 2019.
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Annual Report 2020
39
International Society for Biological & Environmental RepositoriesNotes to the Financial Statements
December 31, 2019
1. Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Continued)
(h) Deferred Revenues
All amounts received for conferences and membership dues relating to services to beperformed in future periods are deferred until the services are delivered in futureperiods. Revenues relating to conference activities are recognized when conferencesare held. Membership dues revenues are recognized over the term of membership.
(i) Unrestricted Net Assets - without donor restrictions
Unrestricted net assets represent the accumulated net surplus of unrestricted revenuesover expenses. It is available for use by the Society in furtherance of its mission.
(j) Revenue Recognition
Membership fees are invoiced annually and memberships expire on December 31.Membership fees receivable are recorded when collection is reasonably assured and arerecognized as revenue during the applicable membership period. Annual conference andother meeting revenues are reported in the fiscal year in which the conference is held.Amounts received in advance from members, sponsors and attendees for meetingsoccurring in the following fiscal year are recorded as deferred revenues.
Publication revenues include royalties received from the publisher managing theSociety's journal and subscription fees. These are recorded when the amount is readilydeterminable and collection is reasonably assured.
Education revenues include the registration fees for the Introduction to BiobankingCourse and are recorded as earned and when the amount is readily determinable andcollection is reasonably assured.
Other revenues include interest income, as well as unrealized gains on investments.Other items included are for amounts earned from mailing lists and webinars. These arerecorded when the amount is readily determinable and collection is reasonably assured.
(k) Expenses
Expenses are recognized during the period in which they are incurred. Expenses paid inadvance for services or goods not yet received are deferred to the applicable period.
(l) Tax Exemption
The Society has been granted exemption by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) fromfederal income taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). TheIRS has also determined that the Society is not a private foundation. The Society isrequired to report and pay taxes on unrelated business income to the IRS and otherlocal jurisdictions. There was no liability for unrelated business income taxes as ofDecember 31, 2019.
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Annual Report 2020
40
International Society for Biological & Environmental RepositoriesNotes to the Financial Statements
December 31, 2019
1. Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Continued)
(l) Tax Exemption (Continued)
The Society records a provision related to accounting for uncertainty in income taxeswhen income tax benefits are recognized for income tax positions taken or expected tobe taken in a tax return, only when it is determined that the income tax position willmore-likely-than-not be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Societyanalyzed tax positions taken for filing with the Internal Revenue Service and all statejurisdictions where it operates. The Society believes that income tax filing positionswill be sustained upon examination and does not anticipate any adjustments that wouldresult in a material adverse effect on the Society’s financial condition, results ofoperations or cash flows. Accordingly, the Society has not recorded any reserves, orrelated accruals for interest and penalties for uncertain income tax positions atDecember 31, 2019.
As of December 31, 2019, the Society was not subject to any examinations by taxingauthorities.
(m) Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments, which potentially subject the Society to concentrations of creditrisk consist principally of cash and cash equivalents, investments and accountsreceivables and accrued revenues.
The Society maintains cash balances in excess of the Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporation (FDIC) limit. While the amounts in the bank accounts at times may exceedthe amount guaranteed by federal agencies, and therefore bear some risk, the Societyhas not experienced any loss of funds. Uninsured cash balances aggregateapproximately $423,016 at December 31, 2019.
Credit risk with respect to receivables is generally limited as members pay their dues inadvance, so the balance is primarily deposits in transit from large banks for credit cardpayments, large publishers for royalty payments or bill-backs from large corporations.As of December 31, 2019, the Society had no significant concentration of credit risk.
(n) Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principlesgenerally accepted in the United States of America requires management to makeestimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilitiesand disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financialstatements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reportingperiod. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
(o) Functional Allocation of Expenses
The cost of providing the various programs and other activities has been summarized inthe Statement of Activities.
Certain incremental costs with future economic benefit may be deferred to be reportedin the period in which the event occurs. Advertising and promotion and similar expensesare not eligible for deferral and are expensed when incurred.
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Annual Report 2020
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International Society for Biological & Environmental RepositoriesNotes to the Financial Statements
December 31, 2019
1. Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Continued)
(p) Foreign Currencies
U.S. dollar is determined as the functional currency. Monetary assets and liabilities inforeign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars at the rate of exchange ruling at thebalance sheet date. Transactions in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollarsat the rate of exchange ruling at the date of the transaction. Exchange gains and lossesare reported in general and administrative expenses on the statement of activities.
(q) Investments and Fair Value Measurements
Investments are the only assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis. Realizedand unrealized gains and losses are included in the change in net assets in theaccompanying Statement of Activities. Valuation techniques used to measure fair valueare prioritized into the following hierarchy:
Level 1 - Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets.
Level 2 - Quoted prices for similar assets in active or inactive markets, or inputsderived from observable market data by correlation such as appraisals orother means such as calculations based on contractual and published tables asof December 31, 2019.
Level 3 - Unobservable inputs that reflect management's assumptions and bestestimates based on available data.
2. Investments2019 2018
Cost Fair Value Cost Fair Value
Guaranteed investment certificate $ 393,696 $ 395,543 $ 375,079 $ 376,956
Total investments $ 393,696 $ 395,543 $ 375,079 $ 376,956
The Society's investments include guaranteed investment certificates that bear interestrates ranging from 1.400% to 3.400% (2018 - 1.300% to 3.400%) and have maturity datesranging from September 21, 2020 to September 28, 2023 (2018 - September 23, 2019 toSeptember 28, 2023). This is a Level 1 measurement, meaning that the fair valuemeasurement is relatively certain as of December 31, 2019.
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Annual Report 2020
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International Society for Biological & Environmental RepositoriesNotes to the Financial Statements
December 31, 2019
3. Capital Assets2019 2018
Depreciationand
Accumulated Net Book Net BookCost Amortization Value Value
Website $ 11,425 $ - $ 11,425 $ -
$ 11,425 $ - $ 11,425 $ -
During the year, the Society incurred capital costs relating to the development of a newwebsite. As of December 31, 2019 the website was not live and available for use, thereforeno amortization has been recorded.
4. Deferred Revenue
Deferred revenue for the years ended December 31 include the following:
2019 2018
Membership fees $ 118,244 $ 146,221Annual meeting 157,390 32,905
$ 275,634 $ 179,126
5. Commitments and Contingencies
The Society enters into agreements with hotels for their conferences. Hotel agreements aremade several years in advance to block rooms and meeting space. Such agreements containcancellation clauses that increase as the actual date of the conference approaches.
The Society has committed to a future meeting, where deposits may have been paid, andthe contract has potential cancellation fees, which have not been recognized, as follows:
Location Cancellation fee (U.S. $)
2020 Anaheim Marriott Hotel (Anaheim, California)Annual On or after January 1, 2020 285,390
2021 Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center (Atlanta, Georgia)Annual January 1, 2020 to May 9, 2020 343,794
On or after May 10, 2020 482,205
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Annual Report 2020
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International Society for Biological & Environmental RepositoriesNotes to the Financial Statements
December 31, 2019
6. Related Party Transactions
The Society has entered into a management contract with Malachite Management Inc.(“MMI”) to pay management fees of 37% of all of the Society's revenues, including but notlimited to the Society's paid membership dues, meeting and event registration fees, meetingexhibitor fees, product and service fees, career centre fees, hotel and other commissionsand rebates, and meeting and other sponsorships. The contract expires June 30, 2020.
Management fees included:2019 2018
Association management fee $ 99,990 $ 98,578
2019 Annual meeting (Shanghai) 226,044 -2018 Annual meeting (Dallas) - 316,223Regional meeting 109,168 50,279
335,212 366,502
$ 435,202 $ 465,080
During the year, the Society incurred $14,074 (2018 - $54,673) of cost reimbursements whichwere paid to MMI. As at December 31, 2019, $12,452 (2018 - $10,609) is payable to MMI andthe amount has been recorded within accounts payable and accrued liabilities.
7. Liquidity and Availability of Resources
The Society's financial assets available within one year of the Statement of FinancialPosition date for general expenditure are as follows:
December 31, 2019 2018
Cash and cash equivalents $ 527,436 $ 489,229Investments 395,543 376,956Accounts receivable, net of allowance 24,616 43,414
Total financial assets available within one year 947,595 909,599Less:
Amounts unavailable for general expenditures within one year:Deferred revenues 275,634 179,126
Total financial assets available to management for general expenditure within one year $ 671,961 $ 730,473
The Society maintains a policy of structuring its financial assets to be available as itsgeneral expenditures, liabilities and other obligations come due.
The Society ended 2019 and 2018, with total financial assets available of $671,961 and$730,473 respectively. The majority of these assets are composed of cash and short terminvestments.
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Annual Report 2020
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International Society for Biological & Environmental RepositoriesNotes to the Financial Statements
December 31, 2019
8. Subsequent Events
The Society evaluated subsequent events through April 7, 2020 which is the date thefinancial statements were available to be issued.
Subsequent to year end, the impact of COVID-19 in Canada and on the global economyincreased significantly. As the impacts of COVID-19 continue there could be further impacton the Society and its members, suppliers and other third party business associates thatcould impact the timing and amounts realized on the Society's assets and future viability. Atthis time, the full potential impact of COVID-19 on the Society is not known. Although thedisruption from the virus is expected to be temporary, given the dynamic nature of thesecircumstances, the duration of business disruption and the related financial impact cannotbe reasonably estimated at this time.
As at December 31, 2019, the Society had not made any significant payments toward the2020 conference, but will be subject to penalties of $285,390 for canceling the hotel andapproximately $1,500 for other contracts if the conference is canceled.
The Society's ability to continue to employ staff, deliver services to members, and meetobligations as they come due is dependent on the existing accumulated net assets, thecontinued availability to collect receivables, and to generate surpluses, including the use ofavailable credit facilities.
No other events arose during the period that required additional disclosure in these financialstatements.
9. Comparative Information
Certain comparative figures have been reclassified to conform to the current year'spresentation.
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Annual Report 2020
45
International Society for Biological & Environmental RepositoriesSchedule of Conference Revenues and Expenses
(Unaudited)
For the year ended December 31 2019 2018
Annual conference revenuesRegistration $ 250,882 $ 375,770Exhibit booths 228,875 274,925Sponsorship 66,175 94,750Symposia 30,046 60,000Hotel commission 12,499 29,292Social event 17,775 13,3005K fun run/walk 4,677 6,620
Total conference revenues 610,929 854,657
Annual conference expensesAbstract 7,561 6,276Audiovisual 71,787 59,153Awards 5,453 12,091Bank and credit card 13,850 23,033Conference management fees 226,044 316,223Consulting fees 3,960 -Delegate materials 7,863 3,960Final program/abstract book 4,523 2,624Food and beverage 60,980 129,917Gala evening 16,520 26,832Meeting room expenses 230,038 -Mobile event app - 926Office and miscellaneous 21,695 16,674Posters, exhibits and signage 30,248 14,922Promotion and marketing 8,702 12,626Registration system 13,545 -Security 4,349 -Speaker costs 46,533 24,887Staff travel 20,759 16,0595K fun run/walk 1,575 5,558
Total conference expenses 795,985 671,761Less amounts expensed in prior year (3,805) (5,361)
Current conference expenses $ 792,180 $ 666,400
Net conference results $ (185,056) $ 182,896
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