Membership of the CCB

Eligibility

Any organisation based in the UK, which collects and distributes biosamples for cancer research (not necessarily in the UK), may apply to join. The NCRI also encourages new banks that are planning to collect and distribute materials, to join at an early stage of setting up.

The application form asks you to share information on the types of sample you collect and how you operate – for sharing with other members. We also ask you to agree to the contents of the Guiding Principles and Memorandum of Understanding which the Confederation has adopted. You may already be fully compliant or you may just be setting up and aspiring to compliance.

Benefits of membership

As the Confederation develops, the benefits that can be offered to members will include some or all of the following:

• The sharing of information, strategies and solutions, including access to a private web area for document-sharing (now available to members)
• A collective voice to promote the importance of using biosamples in research, both within the cancer research community, and to the scientific and medical communities
• Participation in a common portal which will allow biosample users to access information on availability across the Confederation as a whole (to be activated: Autumn 2007)
• Working towards the definition and implementation of common standards for the quality of samples and associated data
• Working towards common access policies and a single application process
• Participation in an economic benchmarking project
• Mentoring for new banks that are in set-up phase, to assist their alignment with Confederation standards
• The opportunity of networking with Biobanks in other countries