Biosamples & Data Sharing

Biosamples and Brain Bank

The Penn ADCC and Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR) maintain NIH-funded tissue banks for human brain samples obtained from patients with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other related neurodegenerative dementias and movement disorders.

These tissue banks are "Core Facilities," a part of NIH-funded multi-component projects to support the research of project grant co-investigators. In order to achieve the goals of their funded projects, these co-investigators are given priority access to samples. The Penn ADCC and CNDR make every effort to provide unused samples to other investigators, but there are many other sources of human brain samples for qualified researchers as well, including the 40+ NIH-supported brain banks in the US, and the National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI).


Obtaining Biosamples

The Biospecimen Review Access Committee (BRAC)
The mission of the BRAC is to progressively and compliantly share the rich sources of biospecimens, such as blood products (e.g., plasma, serum), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), fresh frozen and paraffin-fixed neuropathological tissue, and peripheral and brain DNA, collected in the Penn neurodegenerative community with internal and external research groups to foster collaboration and open-science. 

To obtain biosamples, investigators must have an active IRB approval for their studies involving human tissues. This IRB approval must accompany the completed Biosamples Request Form and be signed by the requesting principal investigator. 

It is imperative that investigators conducting research on human tissues use universal precautions and be fully trained to conduct research using human biological samples that may harbor potentially infectious conditions. Any waste material should be treated as a biohazard and disposed of according to your institutional policy.

Please send requests and questions to:
Allison Ward
alward@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
215-746-8193

Biosample Request Form

 

Penn Neurodegenerative Data Sharing Committee (PNDSC)

The mission of the PNDSC is to progressively and compliantly share the rich sources of multimodal data collected in the Penn neurodegenerative community with internal and external research groups to foster collaboration and open-science. The scope of data includes all non-consumable entities like in vivo and ex vivo MRI/PET imaging, clinical/neuropsychological information, and data and meta-data output generated from biospecimens like genomics, biofluid analytes, and neuropathological ratings.

PNDSC Contact:
Corey McMillan
mcmillac@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Learn more and access the Data Request Form here.