MELANOMA TISSUE BANK CONSORTIUM

MELANOMA TISSUE BANK CONSORTIUM A NATIONAL MELANOMA TISSUE BANK OF ANNOTATED FRESH FROZEN PRIMARY MELANOMA TISSUE IS A FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH TOOL THAT IS DESPERATELY NEEDED FOR RESEARCH. MTBC SPENT TEN YEARS CREATING THE INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED TO OPEN THIS BANK. THIS PROCESS HAS ENTAILED, WITH THE HELP OF OUR RESEARCH INVESTIGATORS, THEIR INSTITUTIONAL STAFF, AND OUR ATTORNEYS DESIGNING THE BIOINFORMATICS, WRITING THE RESEARCH PROTOCOL, CREATING THE UNDERLYING MANUAL, GENERATING THE CONSORTIUM CONTRACTS AND IN GENERAL CREATING THE UNDERLYING STRUCTURE NEEDED TO FUNCTION AS A CONSORTIUM. IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS, WE HAVE OPENED FOUR SITES IN THE US, AND ALL ARE COLLECTING TISSUE AND DATA. ONCE A CRITICAL MASS HAS BEEN COLLECTED (400+ TISSUES), WE WILL OPEN THE BANK, ITS DATA, AND ITS TISSUE, TO OUTSIDE RESEARCHERS.