Biorepository and Tissue Research Facility (BTRF)
The BTRF is the major research core facility at UVA which supports human biospecimen procurement, processing, and banking. The BTRF provides biospecimens linked to clinicopathology data through an "honest broker" system to maintain patient confidentiality. Available specimens include banked frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin-embeded blocks from routine surgical and autopsy procedures and banked biofluid specimens derived from research-specific blood draws (serum, plasma, whole blood, cryopreserved peripheral blood lymphocytes, buffy coat, etc…).
The BTRF also provides prospective collection of remnant tissue from surgical procdures, including fresh, viable tissue. The BTRF supports clinical trials in the collection and processing of blood, tissue, and other biospecimens and provides access to archival pathology specimens from the UVA Department of Pathology.
The core offers histology-based research services to support basic, translational and clinical research, including immunohistochemistry (IHC), chromogenic in-situ hybridization (CISH), and tissue microarray construction. User-operated equipment available includes an Arcturus XT Laser Capture Microdissection system, photomicroscopy equipment and a Leica 3050S research cryostat for frozen sectioning.
The Faculty Director of the BTRF is Dr. Christopher Moskaluk M.D., Ph.D., who is a practicing Surgical Pathologist and physician lead of the Pathology and Medical Laboratory service line at the UVA Hospital helps coordinate the activities of the BTRF with clinical operations in the hospital and community-based clinics. The BTRF is led by Dr. Patcharin Pramoonjago Ph.D. who serves as the Director. The core also receives support from two board-certified anatomic pathologists for histology quality control, immunohistochemistry workup and interpretation and histology consultation/interpretation.
In addition to the above named faculty, the BTRF has 10 full-time staff to support the services of this facility between the hours of 8:30AM-8PM Monday through Friday.
Contact Details:
Main contact for initiating biospecimen procurement or histology request:
- Pat Pramoonjago, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pathology and Director, Ph. 434-982-0487, PIC#1743, pp6f@virginia.edu
For more contact information visit this website.