The American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) is a nonprofit transplant trade organization that is dedicated to ensuring that
human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
tissues intended for
transplantation are safe and free of
infectious disease
An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmis ...
, of uniform high quality, and available in quantities sufficient to meet national needs. AATB is located in
McLean, Virginia
McLean ( ) is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population of the community was 50,773 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is ...
. It was founded in 1976 and consists of 1,100 members.
The AATB provides accreditation for over 100
tissue bank
A tissue bank is an establishment that collects and recovers human cadaver tissue for the purposes of medical research, education and allograft transplantation. A tissue bank may also refer to a location where biomedical tissue is stored under cry ...
s. According to their website, AATB is a voluntary association of organizations committed to obtaining tissues for allografts (transplant) and providing the general public and the medical community with the safest products possible. The program is not regulatory in nature, but educational.
The AATB also accommodates accreditation to non-transplant tissue banks and whole
body donation programs.
To avoid violating the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA or the Ted Kennedy, Kennedy–Nancy Kassebaum, Kassebaum Act) is a United States Act of Congress enacted by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President ...
, AATB must through their legal anatomical authorizations obtain consent which allows AATB representatives access to donor information for accreditation reviews.
The AATB recovered around 17,000 donor grafts in 1996, and in 23,000, this number increased to about 23,000 donor grafts and around 1.3 million musculoskeletal grafts were distributed.
See also
*
Certified Tissue Bank Specialist
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Medical and health organizations based in Virginia
Transplantation medicine