Tissue Procurement Shared Resource

Among the most valuable resources to our investigators is human tissue for use in basic science, translational, and clinical studies, and clinical trials.

The mission of the UNMC Tissue Procurement Shared Resource is to procure and coordinate distribution of fresh frozen human tissue in an optimal state of preservation for requesting investigators without impacting diagnostic quality, accuracy and safety in anatomic pathology. Additional services offered include biospecimen DNA or RNA extraction, sectioning of frozen tissues, short-term tissue culture, cytogenetic/molecular cytogenetic analysis, and tissue preparation via investigator-driven protocols.

Dr. Kurt Fisher is the director of the facility. A multidisciplinary oversight committee reviews tissue requests to prioritize and ensure equitable usage. The facility requires proper Institutional Review Board approval prior to release of human tissues for research purposes. The facility is staffed by highly skilled technologists with expertise in pathology, cytogenetics, and molecular biology. The facility can provide basic demographic and histopathologic information on samples through a confidential database so that findings from basic research can be correlated with clinical data while maintaining strict patient confidentiality.