ISBER Announces New Board Members

THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL REPOSITORIES ANNOUNCES NEW BOARD MEMBERS

The International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) is pleased to announce and welcome new members to the Board of Directors. Joining the Board are Andy Zaayenga, President-Elect (2013 – 2014), Katherine Sexton, Secretary-Elect (2013 – 2014/Secretary 2014 – 2017) and Brent Schacter, Director-at-Large (2013 – 2016).

Mr. Andy Zaayenga is the Managing Director of SmarterLab, a consultancy for laboratory automation. Mr. Zaayenga also serves as the Executive Chair of the nonprofit Laboratory Robotics Interest Group (LRIG). Mr. Zaayenga has been involved in laboratory automation and robotics since 1989, first as an engineer at Zymark (acquired by Caliper Life Sciences and now PerkinElmer), a pioneer in laboratory automation; followed by a series of leadership positions, including CEO of TekCel (now Hamilton Storage Technologies), a technology forerunner in life sciences sample management automation; Director of REMP (then a business unit of Tecan Group, now Brooks Automation), a market leader in life sciences sample management; and Vice President of Business Development at HighRes Biosolutions, a leader in the design and construction of innovative robotic systems and laboratory devices. He also served as Board Director of the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS), an alliance of the Society for Biomolecular Sciences (SBS) and the Association for Laboratory Automation (ALA).

Ms. Katherine Sexton has served as the Assistant Director of the UAB Tissue Collection and Banking Facility since 1983 and as the Coordinator for the Southern Division of the Cooperative Human Tissue Network since 1987. She also manages the operations of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center Tissue Procurement Shared Facility, the UAB Breast SPORE Biorepository, the UAB Pancreatic SPORE Biorepository, and the Center for Tissue Processing for the Pulmonary Hypertension Breakthrough Initiative (PHBI). Kathy received her undergraduate degree from Samford University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Kathy is proud to have been one of the initial members of ISBER and has served on the ISBER Council, the Program Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, and as Chair of the ISBER Education and Training Committee. She received the ISBER Special Service Awards in 2008, 2009 and 2011. Kathy and her colleague, Bill Grizzle, have been leading workshops on tissue biorepository design and operations since 1993.

Dr. Brent Schacter is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Manitoba and member of the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at CancerCare Manitoba. He was CEO of the Canadian Association of Provincial Cancer Agencies (CAPCA) from 2003 until 2008. From 1993 to 2003, he was President and CEO of CancerCare Manitoba. He was a member and then Co-Chair of the Steering Committee of the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control (CSCC) from 1999 to 2002 and Co-Vice Chair of the Council for the CSCC from 2004 to 2006. He was a member of the Provisional Board of CPAC 2006 to 2007, Chair of the Standards Action Group of CSCC/CPAC from its inception until 2008. He was a member of the Health Human Resources Action Group of CPAC, chairing the HHRAG Service Delivery Models Project. He is a Co-Chair of the Canadian Task Force on AYA Oncology, and Principal Investigator on the Canadian Tumour Repository Network (CRTNet) Program Grant from CIHR-ICR since its inception in 2004.

ISBER is the largest international forum that addresses the technical, legal, ethical, and managerial issues relevant to repositories of biological and environmental specimens. ISBER is a professional society of individuals and organizations who share an interest in promoting consistent, high quality standards, ethical principles and innovation in biospecimen banking by uniting the global biobanking community. ISBER invites all sub-components of government, academia, the private sector, and manufacturers to become active participants of the society.

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This release was published on openPR.