Guide: Questions to ask your human biological specimen provider

The foundations for protecting human research subjects come from the ethical principles surrounding the Belmont report : Respect for persons, beneficence, and justice.

The use of human biospecimens in research supports these principles with legal and ethical regulations – the most important of which is permission.⁽¹⁾ As either a researcher or purchaser of Human Biological Specimens (HBS) for research, you need to ensure that your HBS provider operates within the limits of the regulatory oversite that is required for HBS procurement as well as in line with the best practices that have been developed over years by groups specializing in optimizing HBS procurement. Below are key questions that should be asked of every HBS provider.