# Shared Resource: Biosample Repository Facility

> **NIH NIH P30** · RESEARCH INST OF FOX CHASE CAN CTR · 2020 · $170,419

## Abstract

MODEL SYSTEMS SHARED RESOURCE: BIOSAMPLE REPOSITORY FACILITY (BRF)
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC) established biospecimen banking activities in 1987 to coordinate the ethical
collection, storage, annotation and distribution of tissue and peripheral blood samples to support translational
research. This centralized shared resource operates under the supervision of Denise Connolly, PhD (MT) and
is advised by an inter-programmatic Facility Advisory Committee (FAC). To enhance BRF services, the Center
invested $369,770 for a PE Vectra Multispectral Quantitative Imaging System and a MesoScale Discovery
chemiluminescent ELISA platform. The Biosample Repository Facility (BRF) has three major functions: 1) to
identify participants, obtain informed consent, collect tissue, blood and/or urine specimens and obtain
information on personal and family histories of cancer, clinical intervention and lifestyle factors for use in
research; 2) to process and store human biospecimens obtained through investigator-initiated studies; and 3)
to provide tissue-related analysis services including custom tissue microarray (TMA) construction, standard
immunoperoxidase and fluorescent immunohistochemical detection and analysis of biomarker expression.
Working in collaboration with pathologists, medical oncologists, surgeons and other hospital personnel,
specifically trained BRF staff obtains subject informed consent, collects samples and assembles
comprehensive clinical, pathological and personal/demographic information about each donor and the
corresponding samples. As part of this banking process, the BRF staff provides: 1) diagnostic pathology
support; 2) a comprehensive informed consent process for the appropriate collection of tissue, blood and other
biospecimens for research; 3) a specialized biospecimen bank devoted to the collection and distribution of de-
identified specimens to support research; 4) custom TMA construction; 5) immunohistochemical staining; 6)
computer assisted tissue analysis services; and 7) extensive supporting data from the clinical record and self-
reported health history of each participant. All specimens collected by and housed in the BRF are linked to
comprehensive clinical databases supported by the Population Studies Facility (PSF). The BRF currently
houses over 16,500 fresh-frozen tissue samples, over 47,000 blood samples, and has access to >100,000
surgical pathology cases. The annual accruals for new tissue and blood specimens are approximately 1,500
and 3,000, respectively. In 2014, the BRF served 31 FCCC investigators (24 peer-review funded) across all
five Research Programs. Ninety (90%) percent of the BRF's 2014 use (by primary service line) was by
peer-review funded Cancer Center members. Future plans involve the Center's commitment to construct a
dedicated freezer farm that will provide sample storage capacity for the next ten years.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9996574
- **Project number:** 5P30CA006927-55
- **Recipient organization:** RESEARCH INST OF FOX CHASE CAN CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** DENISE C CONNOLLY
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $170,419
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1997-07-01 → 2024-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9996574

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9996574, Shared Resource: Biosample Repository Facility (5P30CA006927-55). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9996574. Licensed CC0.

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