Rigor & Standardization Subcommittee

The Rigor and Standardization Subcommittee (R&S) is a permanent subcommittee of the ISEV Science and Meetings committee that has independent authority over its scientific program.

The goal of the R&S Subcommittee is to improve the reproducibility of research on extracellular vesicles (EVs), and thus help the EV community attain robustness, reliability, credibility and sustainability. To achieve this goal, R&S assembles and guides teams of experts who work together as task forces and intersociety working groups on topics ranging from isolation and detection of EVs in a body fluid to regulatory affairs. Recommendations are disseminated in position papers, guidelines, and other products, and may be incorporated into MISEV (the Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles) and tools such as EV-TRACK.

R&S and its task forces and intersociety working groups collaborate with members of other organizations to ensure access to relevant expertise and optimize dissemination and uptake of recommendations. These organizations include regulatory agencies such as EMA (European Medicines Agency) and the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration), and non-commercial scientific societies, including ISAC (International Society for Advancement of Cytometry), ISTH (International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis), ISCT (International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy), and the European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS).

The strength and credibility of task forces and intersociety working groups come from the hundreds of scientists who volunteer to lead or participate in their activities. Participation offers excellent networking opportunities and collaboration with peers to expand professional potential and expertise. Details on how to get involved can be found on the main task forces webpage.

R&S offers support for organizing workshops, educational activities or other R&S connected events. ISEV aims to improve reproducibility of EV research by funding projects aimed to promote rigor and standardization efforts of ISEV task forces, special interest groups, and intersociety working groups. The grant program is competitive and supports a maximum of two projects annually. See the task forces webpage for more details.