The primary mission of the Human Tissue Acquisition and Pathology Shared Resource (HTAP) is to provide Vanderbilt Cancer Center investigators with access to human tissue for the purpose of carrying out translational research. There are two main components to this Shared Resource: 1) human tissue procurement, and 2) research histology. Each of these components provides critical reagents that allow basic and applied scientific investigations of human tissues with appropriate attention to ethical concerns. Our mission is facilitated by our highly experienced personnel and a close working relationship with the Anatomic Pathology Division of the Department of Pathology. Dr. Jensen has an NCI-funded program of investigation and is an attending physician in Pathology. Ms. Newsom-Johnson worked in the Department of Pathology for over 15 years. Therefore the personnel that staff the Shared Resource have a keen appreciation of the needs of cancer researchers and are very knowledgeable concerning the need for appropriate evaluation of clinical specimens. The HTAP Shared Resource has experienced substantial growth over the last three years and has served 42 different investigators 23 of whom are Cancer Center members. During this period we have provided approximately 24,000 slides, 3,000 blocks, and provided 2,000 frozen specimens to the Vanderbilt research community. We expect continued growth for the next several years and we are in the process of adding additional personnel to keep up with the increased demand for our services. Also, due to the expressed interests from a number of Cancer Center investigators we are adding a microdissection service to the Shared Resource that will enable investigators to carefully separate tumor and normal cells for genetic and biochemical analysis.
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