Biorepository Shared Resource

The Biorepository Shared Resource (BRSR) provides well-characterized, high-quality, de-identified specimens with annotated data for clinical and basic science cancer research purposes for members of the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCDCCC). Accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the BRSR focuses on quality, accuracy, and procedural consistency of biospecimen management upon which research outcomes directly depend. The BRSR functions as a centralized tissue bank to provide UCDCCC members and other researchers access to cancer and non-cancer-related specimens (fresh/frozen tissue, paraffin blocks/sections and fluids), procured and stored using international standards of best practices and protocols compliant with the Office for Human Research Protection. In addition, BRSR supports all clinical trials and other projects as well as tissue collection and storage for PDX models. The BRSR is centrally located at UCD Health (UCDH) with an office and lab on the second floor of the main hospital, and at the histology lab in the nearby Pathology building. Oversight and management of the BRSR is provided by the Director, Regina Gandour-Edwards, MD, a clinical pathologist with over 30 years of experience as a surgical pathologist and translational researcher; and the manager, Irmgard Feldman, a certified clinical research professional with more than 12 years of experience in specimen collection, processing, biobanking and management. The Specific Aims for the BRSR are to 1) Procure, prepare, store and disperse malignant, benign and normal human biospecimens from a centralized biorepository that are collected using standardized procedures and continuously audited quality management programs. 2) Provide high quality pathological and clinical annotated data using a secure and interactive on-line database system (OpenSpecimen). 3) Ensure compliance with all mandated regulatory processes (HHS, IRB, HIPAA, SRC) thereby promoting ethical research by UCDCCC members and other researchers. 4) Provide experienced pathologic consultation to investigators using human specimens for scientific correlation. 5) Efficiently prioritize, track, and disperse biospecimen requests via a rapid and standardized, web-based approval and monitoring process. 6) Provide Tissue Microarray (TMA) construction and histology services for UCDCCC investigators and their collaborators.