# AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR)

> **NIH NIH UM1** · GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $4,723,702

## Abstract

Proposal Abstract
The AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR) is a biorepository sponsored by the NCI, with
a unique focus on cancer within the context of HIV/AIDS. Recent estimates indicate that 40.4
million people are living with HIV (PWH) worldwide, with two-thirds in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
(25.6 million), 2.1 million in Latin America (LATAM), and more than 1.1 million in the U.S. Elevated
rates of cancer have been observed among PWH since the beginning of the HIV pandemic. The
ACSR's central office, based at the George Washington University (GW), oversees 4 US-based
Regional Biorepositories (RBR), a site in Sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa), and a site in Latin
America (Brazil). The primary objectives of the ACSR in the current funding period are: [Aim 1]
to obtain, preserve, organize, and fairly distribute well-documented human cancer and control
biospecimens obtained from PWH; [Aim 2] to support the AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC)
clinical trials by maintaining biorepository functions in compliance with CAP accreditation
practices; and [Aim 3] to restructure the ACSR in response to criticisms in the Summary
Statement from review group ZCA1 RPRB-L (M2), National Cancer Institute Special Emphasis
Panel, AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource-UM1. While the traditional aims of the ACSR (i.e.,
Aims 1 and 2 of this proposal) will remain the same, structural, governance, and administrative
changes will be undertaken during this one-year extension. The proposed changes are designed
to [1] Acknowledge the effort required to maintain essential ACSR functions, including managing
current collections, acquiring new/annotated specimens, promoting ACSR for research, and
overseeing the AMC Biorepository Program; [2] Create a leadership structure that aligns with the
core functions of the ACSR as a biobanking resource to reduce efforts outside that scope; [3]
Establish increased accountability and transparency by connecting each core function to
individual members of the revised MPI team; [4] Minimize the repetition of activities among the
RBRs; and [5] Create a set of centralized metrics to track ACSR achievements. Finally, a primary
criticism of the Review Section was the absence of an inventory for RBRs. In this extension year,
there will be a special focus on managing ACSR specimens and annotation data by a newly
established informatics/inventory team based at Moffitt Cancer Center.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11181860
- **Project number:** 3UM1CA181255-10S1
- **Recipient organization:** GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jeffrey Michael Bethony
- **Activity code:** UM1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $4,723,702
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2013-09-23 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11181860

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11181860, AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR) (3UM1CA181255-10S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11181860. Licensed CC0.

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