The Accreditation Committee of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) has awarded accreditation to the GW Biorepository based on results of a recent on-site inspection as part of the CAP’s Accreditation Programs.
The facility’s director, Sylvia Silver, DA, and associate director, Jeffrey Bethony, PhD, both professors of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, were advised of this national recognition and congratulated for the excellence of the services being provided.
“Receiving the CAP accreditation shows that we are functioning under industry best practices,” said Silver. “It is a lot of work to ensure we are operating at the highest possible standards, and we are proud to be recognized for our efforts.”
The GW Biorepository, based in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, is a comprehensive, state-of-the-art resource of biospecimens and clinical data designed to help today's leading investigators facilitate their research on HIV/AIDS and cancer. Researchers from the GW Cancer Center rely on this resource for myriad projects. Started in 1994 with funding from the National Cancer Institute, the GW Biorepository now includes over 100,000 specimens from various NIH-funded cooperative projects, including the AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource, the AIDS Malignancy Consortium, Women’s Interagency HIV Study, and START Insight.
“The GW Biorepository demonstrates leadership, innovation, and a passionate commitment to standards of excellence while providing the highest quality services, ultimately for patients,” said Bharati Jhaveri, MD, FCAP, chair of the CAP’s Council on Accreditation. “The CAP congratulates the GW Biorepository on its recent CAP Accreditation.”
The GW Biorepository is one of more than 8,000 CAP-accredited facilities worldwide. The CAP, first in the industry to offer an accreditation program for Biorepositories, based the program on the principles of its Laboratory Accreditation Program. The U.S. federal government recognizes the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program, which began in the early 1960s, as being equal-to or more-stringent-than the government’s own inspection program. Currently, there is no federal mandate for biorepository accreditation.
The CAP Biorepository Accreditation process, a three-year accreditation cycle, includes on-site inspection, desk review, and optional education modules and gap assessment. As part of the on-site inspection, the CAP uses Accreditation Checklists to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date blueprint of quality practices to assist biorepositories in improving their operations and ensure quality. The program is designed to ensure the highest standard of patient care.
