Remnant human tissue specimens not required for diagnosis are collected prospectively and may also be banked from routine surgical resections and autopsies. Specimens available include normal, benign, malignant, or diseased and can be provided to investigators:
- Fresh in media or saline
- Snap frozen or OCT-frozen
- Fixed in liquid fixative
- Paraffin blocks and/or slides
Those wishing to apply for services from the UAB-TBR should complete the UAB-TBR application and provide a copy of IRB approval or documentation of IRB review for the project for which the requested specimens will be utilized. Services provided by the UAB-TBR include:
Routine Banked Specimens: The UAB-TBR has retrospectively banked frozen solid tissue and biofluids (plasma, serum, buffy coat, saliva, urine, and urine pellet) that are made available to investigators as requested. These banked inventories include thousands of tissue specimens and fluids that were collected for specialized banks for UAB Breast, Ovarian, and Pancreatic SPOREs and for other programs. In addition, the UAB-TBR has an inventory of banked, formalin- fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) blocks that can be made available or from which stained or unstained sections can be prepared by the UAB-TBR Histology Laboratory. In addition, the UAB-TBR has prospectively banked specimens for which there are not currently active requests. Investigators interested in accessing banked specimens and annotated information should submit the UAB-TBR application.
Identifying Banked Specimens for Your Project: Investigators interested in identifying banked material can search i2B2 or contact us directly.
- Collaborative Studies – We will provide additional histology services, including immunohistochemistry, construction of tissue microarrays, multiplex immunoassays, micro- and macro-dissection of tissues, pathologic diagnostic consultation, and information beyond that provided in a typical pathology report.
- Letter of Support – For collaborative activities, a personalized letter of support for grant and/or contract submissions can be provided.
saldiffalha@uabmc.edu
upendermanne@uabmc.edu
The UAB-TBR coordinates and manages a number of different human tissue biorepository operations, including:
• Educational Endeavors
• Clinical Trials Protocol Support
• Airway Tissue Procurement (ATP)
• Tissue Procurement Shared Facility (TPSF) of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center