Postmortem examinations of patients, where the procedure commences shortly after death (rapid autopsies), are becoming an important scientific engine for understanding mechanisms of disease progression and drug resistance, especially in this era of personalized medicine and immunotherapy. Recently, the Department of Pathology and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center (SKCCC) recruited a new Director of Autopsy with a strong interest in rapid autopsy. The new Director started the Johns Hopkins Legacy Gift Rapid Autopsy Program, and it recently became an SKCCC Rapid Autopsy Program (RAP) Core. RAP Core members will: 1) Perform rapid autopsies on cancer patients for studies related to therapeutic resistance mechanisms, immune evasion and correlation of molecular markers with clinical trial outcomes. 2) Provide expert consultation and quality control/assurance in interpretation of autopsy histopathology samples, including fresh frozen tissues. 3) Aid SKCCC and other investigators by providing administrative, technical and logistical support for performing rapid autopsies on patients with all tumor types. 4) Expand and maintain a biorepository of fresh frozen tissues, FFPE tissues and fluid specimens from rapid autopsy cases, with full pathology and clinical annotations that can be accessed by qualified SKCCC investigators. 5) Carry out molecular pathology-based biospecimen science studies to aid in the development and extension of best practices for tissue procurement, derivative specimen handling and sample storage. The Core utilizes the state-of-the-art Johns Hopkins Hospital postmortem facility. SKCCC-Managed Core Current Grant Year Reporting Period: Jan. 1, 2015, to Dec. 31, 2015
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