Cooperative Human Tissue Network Eastern Division

ABSTRACT The core mission of the Cooperative Human Tissue Network (CHTN) has been to serve the public good by fostering biomedical research through collecting and supplying high quality, well- characterized human biospecimens to the scientific community. The proof of our success over the past 36 years is evidenced by the growing bibliography of 5000 publications and 272 published patent applications by the researchers (CHTN investigators) using our service. The CHTN Eastern Division (ED) has built a dynamic infrastructure and brought the CHTN resource to over 1000 researchers who otherwise would have lacked access to the tissue essential to their work. The purpose of this proposal is to report the successes, strengths, and innovations of the ED at the University of Pennsylvania (UPENN) and to present our plan to continue as an adult division of the CHTN in the next 5-year cycle. The Specific Aims of the ED were developed as the operational blueprint for this division to maximize participation in the national CHTN by leveraging local resources. To this end, our Aims, highly successful to date, refresh and reinforce our highly unified approach to procedures, informatics, and operations to ensure procuring and supplying premium quality biospecimens with personalized customer service. The Specific Aims of the ED will remain consistent in the proposed funding cycle because they continue to reflect the innovative approach to collection, quality management, and distribution of biospecimens, the core of the CHTN Mission.