Interview with Barbara Parodi

Barbara Parodi is a medical doctor and the Executive Manager of the Biological Resource Centre of the National Institute for Cancer Research (IRCCS AOU San Martino – IST) of Genoa, Italy.
Dr. Parodi has been deeply involved in biobanking for many years, dealing with scientific, organizational, technical and ethical issues. Her expertise is mainly in management of Biobanks, Good Laboratory Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices.

She participated in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Task Force on Biological Resource Centres (BRCs) and has contributed to the compilation of the OECD Best Practice Guidelines for BRCs (2007).

Dr. Parodi’s contribution to the Biobanking and Bio-molecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI) started with the Preparatory Phase, and continues both at the European and at the National level, where she participates in the Governing Board of the Italian national node of BBMRI (BBMRI.it) with the role of Project Manager and responsiblility for the CS Quality . Dr. Parodi also participates in the Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure (MIRRI) and in the Global BRC Network (GBRCN).

Dr. Parodi is involved in several international working groups, i.e. the “BioResource Impact Factor” initiative and the working group on sustainability of biobanks. She is part of the Board of the European, Middle Eastern & African Society for Biopreservation & Biobanking (ESBB) with the role of Treasurer and she is involved in the ESBBperanto working group, dedicated to harmonizing definitions and languages in biobank databases to enable comparability of biomaterials and data across different biobanks and countries.

Dr. Parodi sees biobanking as a scientific discipline that affects health, social, environmental and global welfare, and she strongly believes that it is of paramount importance for the development of research in the life sciences.

Read the whole interview here!