The Tissue Donation Program (TDP) supports biomedical research by facilitating the acquisition of biological specimens, including diseased and normal tissue samples, DNA, and other bio-specimens (e.g. blood), from participating patients recruited from the North Shore-LIJ Health System. As a core program it draws upon the resources of the entire North Shore–LIJ Health System, including 3 tertiary hospitals, 15 community and specialty hospitals, 7,000 full-time and voluntary physicians and 240,000 patient admissions annually to meet the needs of investigators.
 
Depending on the specific needs of investigators and the research goals, TDP staff assists with protocol development, identifies appropriate resources within the Health System, obtains pre-operative informed consent, collects medical and health information, organizes the timely retrieval and processing of all specimens,   and maintains relevant electronic databases and regulatory documentation. The program has established procedures that allow for the collection of relevant clinical data associated with samples, while maintaining participants’ confidentiality.
 
A key element of the TDP is the Committee for Participant Protection (COPP). The COPP reviews all proposed research protocols for scientific validity and operational feasibility; assures equitable access to limited biological samples; and reviews all procedures to assure that biological materials and clinical data are collected in accordance with applicable regulations, and the rights and confidentiality of all participants are protected.
 
Current collection projects:
 

• Brain tumor collection study – including gliomas, meningiomas, metastatic tumors and epileptic focal tissue (PI: M. Symons, PhD)
• Synovial tissue collection study – both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis tissue samples (PI: P. Gulko, MD)
• Ovarian cancer DNA and plasma – collection of 275 blood samples from subjects with ovarian cancer and other gynecological conditions to identify new markers of ovarian cancer (PI: C Metz, PhD)
• Colon/rectal cancer tissue – matched sets of snap frozen tumor tissue samples, adjacent normal tissue samples, pre-op and post-op serum (PI: P Gregersen, MD)
• Breast cancer tissue – matched sets of snap frozen tumor tissue samples, adjacent normal tissue samples, pre-op and post-op serum
• Lung cancer tissue – matched sets of snap frozen tumor tissue samples, adjacent normal tissue samples, pre-op and post-op serum
• Umbilical cord blood cells – collection of fresh umbilical cord blood and cryopreserved fetal mononuclear cells for research related to the regulation of fetal inflammatory responses, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and B cell biology (PI: C Metz, PhD)
• Buccal DNA registry – (PI: P Gregersen, MD)  This ongoing project is expected to enroll 10,000 participants who will have provided a buccal DNA sample, health/medical information, and are willing to participate in future studies ads a control subjects.  Collection of both DNA and health history allows for the selection of control subjects on the basis of genotype, as well as demographic information or medical history.  To date over 2200 participants have been enrolled, with a long term goal of 10,000 participants.  Currently, 2400 subjects have been enrolled in this registry and many of have participated as controls in subsequent sub-studies.  Examples of such sub-studies include:
• Selection of controls for basic immunological studies of in vitro T cell activation in subjects who carry, or do not carry, polymorphisms of the intracellular phosphatase, PTPN22.
• Recruitment of subjects with variations in COMT alleles (Val/Met polymorphisms); BDNF alleles; KIBRA; APOE (E2, E3, E4); and DNTBP1  in order to study cognitive phenotypes and normal aging.
• Recruitment of subjects with polymorphisms at the interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF-5) rs2004640 allele, without SLE, to study the effects of these genetic variants on the response of interferon alpha production to Epstein Barr virus.  

The program is staffed by three nurses and a laboratory technician who work closely with the Feinstein Biorepository, as well as patients, physicians, nurses, administrative and ancillary staff of the North Shore-LIJ Health System to assure that investigators have access to high quality biological samples collected in compliance with all regulatory requirements.

Visit Dr. Gregerson's research page.
 

		Name:   Christine Metz, PhD Position:   Co-Director Tel:    516-562-3403 Email:   cmetz@nshs.edu
		Name:   Mary Keogh, RN, MSN, ANP-C Position:   Project Coordinator Tel:   516-562-3491 Email:   mkeogh@nshs.edu
		Name:  Cathleen Mason, RN Position: Research Nurse Phone: (516) 562-3491 Email: cmason@nshs.edu
		Name: Bonnie Golzales, RN Position:   Research Nurse Tel:   (516) 562-1586 Email:   bgonzales@nshs.edu
		Name:   Cassandra Ponds Position:   Research Assistant Tel:   9516) 562-1562 Email:   cponds@nshs.edu

Please contact Mary Keogh, ANP at Mkeogh@nshs.du or 516-562-3491 for information on accessing samples stored at the TDP or to learn more about establishing a tissue specific collection study to facilitate your scientific work.