PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT. As a Comprehensive Cancer Center with a mission to `understand,
prevent and cure cancer', Roswell Park has long recognized the value of human biospecimens linked with
clinical and outcomes data for driving research discoveries. As such, the institute has supported the collection
and banking of remnant tumor tissue from surgical procedures in the Pathology Network Shared Resource
(PNSR) and the collection and storage of peripheral blood samples in the Hematologic Procurement Shared
Resource (HPSR) and the DataBank and BioRepository (DBBR). Furthermore, samples from specific research
initiatives, including large multi-institutional team science grants, have also been banked for research use.
Unfortunately, these efforts have all arisen independently of each other with no coordinated vision or
standardized operating procedures, resulting in scores of -80 and liquid nitrogen (LN2) freezers spread across
the Roswell Park campus. The haphazard and fragmented growth of these resources and the fact that some of
these collections have inventories that cannot be electronically queried by the Roswell Park research
community has made access to these samples difficult and has delayed advances in biomedical research.
Importantly, with some epidemiological studies including thousands of participants with multiple aliquots of
blood components for each, retrieval of samples for analysis is an extremely laborious and time-consuming
process, and keeping freezer doors opened for long periods of time to retrieve samples jeopardizes sample
integrity. Here we propose to consolidate sample procurement, processing and banking for the three existing
shared resources (PNSR, HPSR, and DBBR) and external studies into ONE Biorepository – a comprehensive
and unified biobanking system with accompanying services at Roswell Park. We will also construct a state-of-
the-art biospecimen storage facility on the first floor of GBSB, centered around acquisition of a Hamilton BiOS
M6, an ultra-low temperature automated storage system with robotic sample handling and retrieval, such that
freezer doors are never opened, thereby maintaining the highest levels of biospecimen integrity during storage,
tracking and accession. ONE Biorepository will be accompanied by a renovated laboratory space that can
accommodate the operational needs of all three preexisting biobanks and their research services. The newly
renovated Biorepository and laboratory facilities enable streamlined and efficient practices for the processing,
banking and use of human samples to advance biomedical research, at Roswell and with our regional and
national NIH-funded partners.