How Biobanks Are Assessing and Measuring Their Financial Sustainability.

As guest editors of this sustainability issue of Biopreservation and Biobanking focused on business planning, utilization, and marketing, we invited a number of experts from different sectors of the biobanking arena to provide their views on business planning issues. Each expert was asked to provide a brief background statement on their biobanks, to build a context to understand their answers to the sustainability questions. We hope that these insights and experiences can provide valuable considerations and ideas for other biobanks who wish to develop or refine their own business plans, measure their utilization rates, and work toward financial sustainability. In addition, after the expert input was gathered, the guest editors invited an additional expert to provide summary comments and observations on cost and operational optimization strategies. The broad experiences from all of the experts included and scope of the biobanks they represent should provide a level of relevant representation for all interested parties.