Core C is designed to meet the specific needs of the projects and at the same time draw on the strength of the existing Cancer Center (CC) cores without unnecessary duplication of services. This Core will work closely and synergistically with a number of CC Cores as well as other SPORE Cores to provide exceptional support for all the proposed projects and possible inter-SPORE collaborations. The overarching goals of this core is to provide high quality, well annotated and strictly quality controlled biospecimens for the projects, to develop and implement assays needed for the analysis of the biospecimens and to collaborate with Core B to build the informatics infrastructures to facilitate all aspects of research linked to biospecimens.
Specific Aim 1 is to provides services in the following areas: (1) acquisition and banking of fresh and paraffin- fixed tissues of lymphoma and blood and bone marrow (BM) samples obtained prospectively and retrospectively from patients enrolled on the COH lymphoma SPORE; we will ensure rapid collection and processing, proper storage and monitoring, and proper annotation and record keeping; (2) comprehensive work-up of lymphoma specimens to ensure correct diagnosis and classification, including immunohistochemical, flow cytometric, molecular pathologic, and cytogenetic studies; (3) performance and assistance in routine histologic and immunohistochemical staining of lymphoma tissues and cells, as well as specialized histologic services such as preparation of multi-tumor blocks or tissue microarrays to the specifications of researchers. Additional specialized services will be performed according to the needs of the projects with the collection of leukapheresis specimens to generate CAR-T cells (Project 1); characterization of complex Hodgkin lymphoma and host cell populations through multispectral multiplexed immunofluorescence (mIF) phenotyping and gene expression profiling (GEP) (Project 3); cytogenetic and genomic characterization of lymphomas and the preparation of samples to generate primary patient-derived xenograft (PDX) non- Hodgkin lymphoma models (Project 4). Because of the complexity of the datasets associated with the functions of Core C, in Specific Aim 2, we will collaborate with Core B (Research Informatics) to design, build, and integrate databases relevant to biospecimens to improve their functionality and connectivity to support SPORE projects and collaborations on other NCI-sponsored projects.
Core C will facilitate research on lymphoid malignancies by SPORE investigators and other lymphoma researchers through the acquisition and banking of high quality tissues from lymphoma patients, providing quality control and management, comprehensive pathological characterization, and assistance with specialized studies specific to the SPORE projects. While Core C is designed to complement and support the projects, it will at the same time draw on the strength of the existing infrastructure and leverage the expertise of other NCI- funded resources already present at our institution.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 97 publications
