By Tiene Bauters, Ghent University

The role of clinical pharmacists in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has been recognized for years in many parts of the world. In 2015, their role was officially recognized by the FACT-JACIE International Standards for Hematopoietic Cellular Therapy Product Collection, Processing, and Administration. Since then, more and more European clinical pharmacists have been appointed to HSCT wards. 

In May 2019, Consensus Recommendations for the role and competencies of EBMT clinical pharmacists and clinical pharmacologists involved in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation were published. This publication can be found at Bone Marrow Transplant. 2019 May 17. doi: 10.1038/s41409-019-0538-9 [Epub ahead of print]

FACT-JACIE is a collaboration between the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) and the Joint Accreditation Committee of ISCT & EBMT (JACIE). FACT is a non-profit corporation co-founded in 1996 by the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT) and the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT) for the purposes of establishing standards for high quality medical and laboratory practice in cellular therapies and voluntary inspection and accreditation in the field of cellular therapy. The Joint Accreditation Committee of ISCT & EBMT (JACIE) is a not-for-profit entity established in 1998 in collaboration with the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) for the purposes of assessment and accreditation in the field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Europe. JACIE's primary aim is to promote high quality patient care and laboratory performance in hematopoietic stem cell collection, processing and transplantation centers through profession-led development of global standards and an internationally recognized system of accreditation.