Core Directors:
Francesmary Modugno, PhD
Esther Elishaev, MD
The Hillman Cancer Center (HCC) Ovarian Cancer (OvCa) SPORE Translational Pathology Core (TPC) will provide four key services to facilitate innovative translational studies.
Specific Aims
Aim 1: Procuring quality-controlled, pathology-reviewed, and clinically-annotated biospecimens,
Aim 2: Extracting, processing, and storing de-identified clinical data that can be easily integrated with other data types (e.g., genotype, omics, metadata).
Aim 3: Securely sharing biospecimens and data.
Aim 4: Developing patient-derived tumor models for therapeutic and mechanistic studies. The TPC provides these critical services to HCC OvCa SPORE investigators, other NCI-funded OvCa SPOREs, and the greater OvCa research community.
The biorepository enables all persons seen at HCC gynecologic cancer clinics in southwestern PA to donate samples. A novel aspect of the TPC is using primary patient tissues to generate preclinical models to facilitate basic science and preclinical studies. Primary tumor is also used to generate patient-derived tumor xenografts (PDX). The TPC draws on resources already available through HCC, including the Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) cores and the Magee-Womens Research Institute and Foundation (MWRI). As such it efficiently and effectively provides and facilitates the testing of clinically derived data and biospecimens to support OvCa SPORE investigators, and the greater ovarian cancer research community, ultimately improving the lives of patients suffering from this devastating disease.
