The CCTS Biospecimens Core, in the Translational Technology Key function, aims to facilitate translational research by providing access to useful tissue samples.

The Core is currently co-directed by Ken Campbell, PhD (Physiology and Center for Muscle Biology) and Peter Nelson, MD, PhD (Pathology and Sanders-Brown Center on Aging) and is in active development.

The initial goals are to:

1) Collect data from researchers about the types of specimens they want to access and how the samples should be procured and stored.

2) Collaborate with the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, and Markey Cancer Center, to develop systems for data management and specimen procurement.

3) Leverage existing resources at UK to facilitate translational research with biospecimens.

This site will be updated regularly as the Core makes progress. Please bookmark the page for future use. If you have comments or suggestions, please contact one of the Biospecimens Core Personnel listed below.

CCTS Biospecimen Core Personnel:

Data from Biospecimen users

In March 2012, the Core collected data from 184 CCTS researchers about research using biospecimens. Summary results from the on-line questionnaire can be downloaded in PDF format.

Please email Ken Campbell if you would like more information.

Existing biospecimens resources at UK

Markey Cancer Center
The Cancer Center has been collecting samples of cancerous and non-cancer tissue since ~2004. Some samples are frozen at -80C, others are embedded in paraffin blocks. The repository holds ~35,000 samples in total. Details about >2,500 gastrointestinal samples are available online at https://catissue.uky.edu/caTissueInventory_GI.php

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging
-Performs short postmortem interval (PMI) autopsies on cognitively normal and cognitively impaired participants in the UK-ADC clinical cohort.
-Provides state-of-the-art postmortem diagnoses with the most current methodologies.
-Maintains a tissue bank of short PMI rapidly anonymized frozen brain specimens and CSF in addition to banking frozen serum, plasma, buffy coat, and CSF from living subjects in the clinical cohort. To request tissue (Click here)

Or click the link below to go to the Neuropathology Core web page.
http://www.mc.uky.edu/coa/clinicalcore/Neuropathology Core.html

Other resources
Some of the UK researchers who run program-specific tissue procurement protocols are listed below. Please contact these individuals directly if you would like more information about these resources and/or to discuss potential collaborations.