Tissue Procurement & Distribution

The specific aims of the Tissue Procurement and Distribution Core are:

• Specific Aim 1: To provide well-annotated, diverse, high quality biologic material to support basic and translational solid tumor research.
• Specific Aim 2: To coordinate procurement, processing, storage, and management of tissue samples collected in conjunction with therapeutic and correlative solid tumor clinical trials.
• Specific Aim 3: To develop and maintain tissue microarrays to support biomarker research.
• Specific Aim 4: To collaborate with investigators to provide analyses of banked, archived, or tissue microarray samples, including pathologic characterization and immunohistochemistry.

Fee for Service Rates

If you are a cancer center member, please contact Pam Rockey at prockey@iu.edu for additional rate information.

Confidentiality

Tissue procurement maintains patient confidentiality by using a database system, Oncore BSM, which utilizes unique patient identifiers and limits access by investigators to the encryption code.

Conflict resolution

Conflicts/problems are resolved by the oversight committee. A written or verbal request may be submitted to any committee member who will in turn present it to the entire committee to resolve.

Cost recovery/payment policies 

The advisory committee oversees the annual costs and charges for specimen collection, storage, distribution and shipping. Payment is requested within 45 days after delivery.

Prioritization of work

The oversight committee sets the guidelines and procurement prioritization for various research groups. Indiana University researchers are given first priority, followed by outside collaborators such as Purdue, and followed by industry sponsors.

Publication acknowledgment

If research supported by the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center Tissue Procurement & Distribution Core results in publication, please acknowledge this support by including the following in your publication(s):

We would like to thank the Biospecimen Collection and Banking Core at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center who provided _____ service in support of this study. We thank contributors, including Indiana University, who collected samples and/or data used in this study, as well as study participants whose help and participation made this work possible.

There is no expectation of authorship for any of the facility staff.