# World Trade Center Tissue Biobank

> **NIH ALLCDC U01** · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · 2020 · $494,044

## Abstract

Immediately after the 9/11 terrorist attack, concerns were raised about the short and long term
effects of exposure to the World Trade Center (WTC) dust cloud. Responders and residents were
exposed to a complex mixture of toxic chemicals that included multiple known and suspected
human carcinogens which could increase cancer risk. For most solid cancers, the relevant time
window between exposure and cancer occurrence is approaching right now, 16 years after the
event. The WTCHP has completed the follow-up of all the respondents up to 2014, and has
confirmed a possible increase in thyroid and prostate cancers, where the possibility of a
biologically more aggressive cancer type due to the nature of the environmental exposure in this
population has not been discounted. In parallel with the biomarkers human studies, experimental
animal studies of the systemic and local effects of controlled exposure to WTC dust have been
conducted, to complement and help interpreting the epidemiological and biomarkers observations
reported in the WTC responders cohort. We propose to update the existing biobank of human
solid organ tissues from each cancer diagnosed among the WTC rescue and recovery
workers, and to include a central repository of tissue samples from various relevant
organs from all the animal experiments involving exposure to WTC dust, in order to
facilitate and promote future clinical research and translational studies on cancer etiology,
cancer biology and cancer outcome. This project proposes to update the central repository of
cancer tissue samples and adjacent normal tissue from each solid cancer diagnosed among the
WTC Health Program (WTCHP) participants. Relevant information from pathology and cytology
reports from each cancer is also centrally stored. This repository has the capability to be linked
with the main WTCHP data set containing clinical, epidemiological and exposure information, as
well as with the peripheral blood sample collected from the participants at the time of inclusion in
the WTCHP. We also propose to initiate and manage a central repository of tissue samples from
various organs from rodents exposed to WTC dust at Mount Sinai and NYU. Relevant information
from pathology reports will also be centrally stored, along with details of the exposure amount and
duration, and of the experimental design. We establish the tissue bank as a resource for the
science community, by defining a process for qualified applicants to request available samples for
research use, and for linking with the epidemiologic and clinical information in the database. A
plan for the evaluation of the tissue bank usage and success, as measured by publications and
funding obtained by investigators using the samples, is also included.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9934060
- **Project number:** 5U01OH011704-03
- **Recipient organization:** ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
- **Principal Investigator:** EMANUELA TAIOLI
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $494,044
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-07-01 → 2021-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9934060

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9934060, World Trade Center Tissue Biobank (5U01OH011704-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9934060. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*