The College of American Pathologists has awarded accreditation to Eastern Virginia Medical School’s Biorepository based on results of a recent on-site inspection as part of CAP’s Accreditation Program. 

The biorepository’s director, Laurie Wellman, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology and Anatomy, was advised of the national recognition in September. 

“On behalf of everyone at EVMS, I would like to congratulate Dr. Wellman and her team,” says Richard V. Homan, MD, President and Provost of EVMS and Dean of the School of Medicine. “Thanks to their dedication, EVMS is now the only academic health center in Virginia with a CAP-accredited biorepository and only the second medical facility in the commonwealth to earn this distinction. Our community and our collaborators can take great pride in this validation that EVMS has met the industry’s highest standards.” 

CAP is the first industry organization to offer an accreditation program for biorepositories based on the principles of its Laboratory Accreditation Program. The federal government recognizes the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program, established in the early 1960s, as being equal to or more stringent than the government’s own inspection program. 

“Obtaining CAP accreditation,” Dr. Wellman says, “implies our commitment to maintaining quality, accuracy, procedural consistency, best practices and evidence-based standards that directly improve outcomes for our research community.” 

With a membership of 18,000 board-certified pathologists, CAP is the leading organization serving patients, pathologists, and the public by fostering and advocating excellence in the practice of pathology and laboratory medicine worldwide.

Pictured above: Lab Manager Mary Ann Clements and Dr. Laurie Wellman display examples of the more than 70,000 tissue samples collected over the last 20 years and now in storage at the biorepository.