Sharing the Standards Development Mission at ISCT 2018
Washington, DC (May 7, 2018) — On May 2–5, 2018 in Montreal, Nexight Group and SCB participated in the annual meeting of the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT), a global society of more than 1,500 clinicians, researchers, regulators, technologists, and industry partners representing more than 50 countries with a shared vision of translating cellular therapy into safe, effective therapies to improve patients’ lives worldwide.
SCB President Jiwen Zhang was invited to speak to ISCT attendees about the SCB and its efforts to advance standards in regenerative medicine in a session entitled “Progress in the World of Standards for Cell and Gene Therapies.”
As part of her informative talk, Zhang provided the international group of stakeholders with background on the historical role of and need for standards, as well as the evolution of events that culminated in the inception of the SCB in early 2017. She also outlined the Nexight Group-SCB partnership efforts on the FDA-funded project to recommend process improvements and and criteria for identifying, prioritizing, and advancing standards for regenerative medicine therapies.
Additionally, Zhang discussed the organization of the SCB around four sectors and its key role in coordinating standards efforts from the initial identification of a standards need; through prioritization, feasibility assessment, and development; to education and awareness-building. Lastly, after sharing current project and activity updates—including support of ISO TC276 and ASTM F04, the recent Rapid Microbial Testing Methods Workshop (April), and the upcoming Characterization of Fibrous Scaffolds Workshop (August)—Zhang encouraged the audience to engage with SCB to contribute to regenerative medicine standards development and reviewed the various ways they could do so.
To get involved or to learn more about how you, too, can participate in regenerative medicine standards development through SCB, contact SCB or sign up for our e-newsletter (below).