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The 2015 ISBER Annual Meeting & Exhibits in Phoenix, Arizona, USA: bridging the canyon-connecting biobank communities through innovations in global health, research and environmental preservation.

The 2015 International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER; http://www.isber .org) Annual Meeting & Exhibits will be held May 5–9, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown. The Grand Canyon, one of the geological wonders of the world, will be an inspirational backdrop, while the conference will focus on the creation of highimpact innovations, partnerships, and networks across the biobanking landscape. The meeting theme is ‘‘Bridging the Canyon—Connecting Biobank Communities through Innovations in Global Health, Research, and Environmental Preservation.’’ This theme sets the focus firmly on the intrinsic, central nature of biobanking in enabling significant research and clinical care, through the preservation and availability of highquality tissue and environmental samples. The wide array of speakers from the medical, pharmaceutical, and environmental fields at the symposia is a testament to the ever-widening need and fulfilment of the pivotal role of biobanking. With the varied and growing maturation of the biobanking field across the world, however, there are newer challenges, viewed as gaps or canyons in our collective knowledge. These may be underlying factors (e.g., specimen preparation), operating factors (e.g., consent and/or financial operating models), or technological factors (e.g., the curation of big data) presenting demanding challenges at times to the development of the field. The increasing rate at which these obstacles are identified, discussed, and eventually overcome demonstrates the power of biobanking networks. The meeting will focus on the ability to expand our biobanking reach through technological developments, high-throughput pharmaceutical research, and the better understanding, management, and preservation of archival material. Biobanking is a dynamic field developing in both well-established institutions and emerging centers in farreaching geographical areas with newer biobanks, such as in China, India and Africa. The conference will focus on developments across geography and fields, to provide a current snapshot of the industry and its future direction. The ISBER Annual Meeting & Exhibits will feature six symposia with invited speakers, many educational and corporate workshops, a rare disease session, interactive discussions, contributed paper sessions, ISBER Working Group meetings, poster displays, a large exhibit hall, networking opportunities, social events and much more. The following symposia have been developed to emphasize the variety of biobank communities and how they connect with many and diverse fields (including biomedical, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, animal and environmental) to foster and disseminate innovative solutions.