Project Summary and Abstract
The Translational Pathology Shared Resource (TPSR) laboratory at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center
(SKCC) is dedicated to providing exceptional pathology faculty expertise, a comprehensive range of high-
quality, state-of-the-art histopathology technical support and service as well as cutting edge molecular
pathology and digital pathology services, and critical access to CAP-accredited biorepository facility for patient
samples to SKCC Members across the consortium and other researchers. TPSR is one of the 8 National
Cancer Institute (NCI)-supported Shared Resource Core Facilities at TJU. Because of its consistent service
support to NIH-funded research programs as well as clinical trials at TJU/TJUH research centers, TPSR was
always rated as Excellent to Outstanding during reviews ever since its establishment. The current autostainer,
a refurbished intelliPATH FLX®, was manufactured by Biocare Medical LLC and installed in August 2020. It
is remarkably slow (needs 6-9 hours/batch for single channel IHC) and lacks inline slides preparation (required
for fully automatic operation) and heating elements (required for In Situ Hybridization (ISH) and Terminal
Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase dUTP Nick End Labeling (TUNEL) assays). As a result, we lack the ability to
carry out molecular pathology tasks such as Multiplexed Immunohistochemistry/Immunofluorescence
(mIHC/IF), DNA/RNA ISH, TUNEL. Therefore, we request fund to acquire a new DISCOVERY ULTRA,
manufactured by Roche Diagnostics Corporation to establish a state-of-the-art molecular pathology
platform at TJU. Our preliminary instrument research and tests indicate that the DICSOVERY ULTRA is
ideally suited to meet our needs mentioned above. DICSOVERY ULTRA is a fully open automatic IHC/ISH
staining platform designed for research use only. It offers protocol flexibility for rapid assay development on
each individual slide (30 slides capacity in total) with both manual and/or fully automated IHC/IF, mIHC/IF,
ISH protocols simultaneously. The fully automated workflow enables processing of 90 slides in 8 hours, which
will improve turnaround times significantly. We have identified a group of eight core users from inside TJU
who eagerly support this proposal. If funded, TJU will cover the cost of ~$14,496/year for the service contract
after the first year, the cost of consumables in addition to other associated costs. The personnel will be
compensated through a combination of CCSG grant and the charge back. The proposed instrument will
significantly expand the service list of this shared resource, increase efficiency and productivity, enhance the
competitiveness of current NIH-funded research projects and expand the numbers of researchers using our
NCI funded Shared Resource, which will ultimately improve the quality, breadth and depth of our biomedical
research and strengthen the connections between basic, translational and clinical research.