The Adult Clinical Trials Group (ACTG)

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Brady helps the world's largest HIV research network develop
more efficient, more accurate lab labeling protocols.

The Adult Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) is the world's largest HIV research network, with over 140 labs worldwide working on research for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), specifically for the Division of AIDS (DAIDS).

Frontier Science is a non-profit company that provides Laboratory Data Management Software (LDMS) to labs doing government-funded HIV research. To make collaboration between worldwide labs easier, and to ensure accurate and efficient labeling of all laboratory samples, Frontier Science and its collaborators have been working with Brady for three years to develop lab labeling procedures, with the goal of barcoding all lab specimens. They now use a system of Brady labels, printers, and barcode readers that work seamlessly with the LDMS program.

LDMS is a specimen management system with features for sample labeling, logging in samples, freezer management, shipping, and report generation. The ACTG labs track millions of samples, and Frontier Science was looking for ways to build on the LDMS system to make the labeling process more streamlined and consistent. According to Marlene Cooper, Chief of the Laboratory Division at Frontier Science, "When we started reviewing the process with the labs three years ago, we found the whole gambit of labeling including labs struggling with the problems of relabeling frozen tubes."

The Brady team worked with Frontier Science to help them take the most advantage of the features already built into the LDMS program, and to develop parameters for LDMS barcodes.

According to Cooper, "Our initial thought was to include as much information as possible in the barcode. Brady was really helpful and patient with 'Barcode 101.' They helped us streamline what was needed on the barcode to make data retrieval easy without putting too much information in the barcode. Now each sample has a unique 'license plate number' that defines the aliquot for the sample and links directly to the information stored via the LDMS software."

To ensure that the labels and the barcodes would meet ACTG's needs, The Brady Technical Support Department did a variety of burn tests and scan tests on sample labels to help determine what would work best in the lab environment and with the LDMS. Julie Schoenborn, Senior Strategic Account Manager for Brady's Lab Products Group, explained the challenges involved in merging Brady's expertise with the labs' needs: "We know a lot about barcodes, but we didn't know a lot about the processes of the ACTG labs, so in some ways we had to start from scratch to help Frontier develop protocols that would work for everyone involved."

The Brady lab labeling system of printers and lab-specific labels allow the labs to use standard ACTG formats to print barcoded aliquot labels, building label consistency across labs and streamlining the work of lab techs. By using a 2D data matrix barcode font, the resulting labels offer information redundancy - even if the label is damaged, vital information can be scanned and retrieved.

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