- Experimental Tissue Resource (ETR) The primary objective of the Experimental Tissue Shared Resource (ETR) is to provide basic, translational, and clinical researchers within the Cancer Center access to, and analysis of, human and animal tissues. A key advantage is that this Core leverages the technical and professional expertise of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Four service lines are currently offered: 1) Tissue Procurement and Interpretive Histopathology Consultation, 2) Tissue Histology and IHC services, 3) Laser Capture microdissection, and 4) Mouse Pathology services. In the prior full funding period, 69 CFCCC Members have used ETR services, an increase of 10% over the prior 5-year funding period. Fifteen clients have been provided letters of collaboration for cancer-focused grant proposals, and 6 junior faculty members have been mentored with regard to developing tissue procurement or analysis aims in grant proposals. The histology component has provided high-quality service at below-market recharge rates, with short turn-around times for CFCCC members who are mainly pursuing translational research on human cancer specimens or studying animal models of human cancer. These features have made our histology services superior to those available from commercial vendors, contributing to usage growth. ETR services contributed to 58 publications in the previous 5 years, from 36 different CFCCC Principal Investigators. Interpretive histopathology services have been particularly valuable to investigators pursuing translational and clinical research projects. In the coming funding period, priorities for growing the service include updating the IRB and prospective informed consent process for tissue banking, adding cryostorage space and specimen processing capabilities for bone marrow aspirate collection, and implementing new data management tools for the intake, inventory, QC/QA, and disbursement of research tissues.
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