NC TraCS Biobanking Service
The NC TraCS Biobanking Consortium coordinates services to help investigators collect, process, and store human specimens for research. High quality specimen preparation is critical for accuracy of downstream analytic tests. Biobank guidelines are available at biospecimens.cancer.gov
There are four major campus facilities that process and bank human specimens. These facilities may provide additional services such as extraction and storage of DNA or RNA, and advice about preanalytic study design (specimen collection, assessing specimen quality). Contact the facilities below for details on collection/storage, policies for release of materials, prices, and associated information.
Existing Biobanking Services at UNC
The UNC Tissue Procurement Facility (TPF) assists in the
collection, processing and storage of solid tissues, blood and
other biopspecimens. The TPF collects biospecimens under
an IRB-approved protocol for general banking purposes. In
addition, the TPF assists in PI-driven protocols and clinical
trials.
For more information, refer to the website at
http://unclineberger.org/tissue-procurement.
A centralized, quality-controlled facility for the processing, storage and distribution of human non-tumor biospecimens. The BSP Facility provides laboratory support for investigator-initiated large-scale clinical and epidemiologic studies. In addition to tissue banking and laboratory services, the facility is a resource for investigators seeking advice on study design including specimen collection and storage methods, and protection of human subjects. Visit the BSP website at https://genome.unc.edu/bsp.
Banks selected specimens for short duration and can also provide certain testing services on a research basis by special arrangement with the laboratory. For further information, contact the Director of the particular clinical laboratory where your desired laboratory test (or one similar to it) is offered. For example, the UNC Hospitals Clinical Molecular Genetics Lab can “extract and hold DNA” on blood (or selected other specimen types) by ordering "DNA/RNA extraction and hold" in CPOE.
Visit the McLendon Labs website at http://labs.unchealthcare.org
The Translational Pathology Laboratory (TPL) is not a storage facility but it can help retrieve paraffin embedded human tissue from clinical archives. The TPL also offers a range of morphology-based assays for DNA, RNA, and proteins using modern digital pathology platforms.
Visit the TPL website at: https://tpl.med.unc.edu.
Other UNC core facilities are listed at http://www.med.unc.edu/corefacilities/about-ott