Blood and Tissue Specimen Core Facility

The aims of the Core D (Blood and Tissue Core) project of the New York Columbia Collaborative Specialized Program on Translational Research In Acute Stroke (NYCC-SPOTRIAS) are to provide centralized, professional management of specimen processing, to perform laboratory testing in a central facility by a laboratory technologist under the supervision of a Clinical Pathologist laboratory director, and to provide a place for long term storage under controlled conditions for DMA and specimen aliquots that can be used for repeat and additional testing. These functions will be performed by the Center for Advanced Laboratory Medicine (CALM) at Columbia University. It is estimated that over the course of the SPOTRIAS project, there will be 680 specimen collection episodes resulting in nearly 7,000 aliquots to be processed, tested and/or stored. Immediately after collection, specimens will be sent to CALM for processing, aliquotting, and DMA extraction. After processing, specimen information will be entered into Freezerworks specimen management software and barcode labels will be generated and placed on the specimens. As the specimens are placed in frozen storage at -80 degrees C, the tubes will be barcode wanded and a specimen map will be created for inventory and retrieval purposes. To ensure the safety of these specimens, CALM will use a monitored freezer on an emergency electrical power circuit with carbon dioxide back-up. Likewise, DNA will be extracted, aliquotted, and prepared for storage in a similar manner. CALM will perform hs-CRP, IL6, and TNF testing on retrieved aliquots. All testing will be performed in duplicate and with appropriate Quality Control procedures using commercial controls and duplicate specimens; the laboratory will also subscribe to available proficiency programs. CALM staff will oversee the delivery of specimens to the hospital laboratory for CK, Liver Profile and other tests as required; CALM staff will also retrieve the results of these tests and enter them into a computerized database for transfer to the data management staff.