Nationwide Children’s Receives $5.5M from NIH and is Designated a Biospecimen Core Resource for The Cancer Genome Atlas

The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital has been named as a Biospecimen Core Resource (BCR) for The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA).  The TCGA is co-managed by the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute, both part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  TCGA involves more than 100 researchers nationally who are working to further scientific understanding of the genomic changes in cancer, thereby improving the ability to diagnose, treat and prevent this disease. 

As a BCR for TCGA, Nationwide Children’s will be responsible for acquiring tumor and normal tissue samples and clinical data from contributing medical and research centers.  BCR functions include analyzing all specimens to ensure they meet rigorous quality standards and that the clinical information for each sample is available.  Once the optimal specimens are examined and processed, the BCR distributes extracted DNA and RNA to researchers within the TCGA research network.
Nationwide Children’s was awarded an initial $5.5 million contract from the National Cancer Institute to serve as a BCR. 

“Our selection as a key resource for The Cancer Genome Atlas is an honor and a significant validation of our existing expertise and national reputation for biospecimen banking and tissue processing,” said John Barnard, MD, president of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s.

For more information, see the release from Nationwide Children’s.