) The AIDS Malignancy Bank was established in 1994, and since 1995 has been composed of five sites: UCSF, UCLA, George Washington University, SUNY-Brooklyn, and Ohio State University. The AMB is a national resource that reflects the history of the malignancies of HIV disease in specimens. Because scientists in the AMB are themselves actively involved in studies of the p a t hogenesis of AIDS-related malignancies, the AMB is responsive to therapeutic and scientific advances in HIV disease. Currently, the AMB contains 12,688 individual specimens in 43 different categories. These fluid, cell, and tissue specimens, along with associated clinical information, are available to qualified researchers worldwide. To date, 18 different investigators have received over 900 specimens after critical evaluation of their Letters of Intent (LOIs) by an independent Research and Evaluation Decision Panel (REDP) of experts in the field. This current re-competition proposal combines information from all AMB member sites, as well as reporting accomplishments, future plans, goals and budget projections from individual sites. The key AMB goals are: 1) to establish an Operations Center that will maintain the national database, coordinate activities of the AMB sites, and interface with external sources of specimens such as the AIDS-related Malignancy consortium and the Women's Interagency HIV Study, and the scientific community; 2) to expand the AMB to serve as the specimen repository for large oncological clinical and epidemiological consortia, ultimately leading to procurement of their specimens; 3) to increase visibility and broaden the use to the AMB by investigators; and 4) to f u rther develop individual member site programs to increase specimen acquisition. The UCLA AMB was one of the original funded banks. To date, it has accrued over one third of all cases in the AMB (579 of 1503 cases) and the third highest total of specimens overall. The bank has distributed the largest collection of specimens to five of the 18 approved investigators. The UCLA AMB has been active in the AMB steering committee and led efforts to bring samples from other groups such as the AIDS associated malignancy consortium to the AMB. The UCLA AMB is being reconfigured to expand its reach for specimens, increase its access to neurologic and multi-site autopsy tissues, and catalogue additional stored specimens at the main site. In this renewal, UCLA will expand from its current three hospitals to over 10 hospital that provide care to over 90% of all patients with HIV infection in LA County. We will also add an internationally recognized HIV neuropathologist. With these changes, we anticipate accruing over 1,000 additional cases and over 5,000 new specimens. The UCLA AMB also expects to bring over 16,000 specimens from the AMC into the AMB through its leadership of AMC clinical trials 002, 007 and 009. Over the next five years, the UCLA AMB intends to expand its leadership position within the AMB.
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