PROJECT SUMMARY – Translational Pathology Shared Resource The mission of the Translational Pathology Core (TPC) of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center (NCCC) is to facilitate high-impact cancer research by providing high-quality human tissue procurement, processing, and banking resources to NCCC investigators working on all aspects of cancer research. Continuing as the Director of TPC since its inception in 1998, with oversight from NCCC Administration, Sue Ellen Martin MD PhD ensures that services are provided in a timely and cost-effective manner and that TPC meets the needs of NCCC members. TPC team members work with investigators in all NCCC Research Programs on the planning, design, and feasibility of cancer research studies requiring human biospecimens and procure tissue for NCCC clinical trials. A unique service offered by TPC is the acquisition of formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue from patients enrolled in population-based studies, including non-USC hospitals. In addition to retrieving blocks from specific patients for population-based studies, TPC collects FFPE tissue blocks that are donated by regional hospitals to TPC's Residual Tissue Repository (RTR) and linked to the NCI-funded Cancer Surveillance Program (SEER registry) at USC/NCCC. The ethnic and racial diversity of the biospecimens available to investigators fosters NCCC's mission to reduce cancer disparities. For example, TPC has ~1,800 and 2,800 annotated breast cancer tumor blocks from African Americans and Hispanics, respectively, and the RTR includes over 60,000 multiethnic cancer patient specimens. New developments in the current period include: 1) deployment of a centralized bioinformatics tool, OpenSpecimen; 2) enrollment for CAP/CLIA certification; 3) launch of an automated investigator database queries for specimens to decrease turn-around time; and 4) implementation of a universal consent process in collaboration with the NCCC Oncologic Research Information Exchange Network (ORIEN) program. During the current grant period, 84 NCCC full members across all five NCCC Programs utilized TPC resulting in 82 publications and $19.4M in direct cost grant funding related to TPC usage. For example, TPC supports ORIEN at NCCC, providing annotated FFPE tumor tissue blocks from over 2,471 consented adult patients for whole genome sequencing (WES) and RNA sequencing (RNASeq) with matched whole blood samples for germline WES. TPC also provides essential pediatric tissues not otherwise available to investigators, including fresh Wilms tumor, neuroblastoma, and sarcoma tissues as well as over 5,000 leukemia samples. TPC is also critical for the NCI UM1 (National Clinical Trials Network) and UG1 (Experimental Therapeutics Clinical Trials Network) at NCCC. The anticipated annual budget of TPC in the first year of the next grant cycle is $991,870 yet the CCSG request is $403,984. Accordingly, TPC leverages extensive institutional and recharge support and seeks only 41%...