—
Growth opportunities are already showing up at Windber Research Institute through its association with the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
Crews have been cleaning out an unused office at the Windber facility to make room for additional tissue banking freezers, Richard Mural, chief scientific officer, said.
New freezers are being installed to receive frozen tissue specimens from the U.S. Military Cancer Institute’s research program.
The cancer institute is contracting with Windber to handle its biobanking, Mural said.
The new partnership with Military Cancer Institute grew out of the closing of venerated Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and its reinvention as part of a joint military services health complex on the National Navy Medical Center campus in Bethesda.
Windber leaders see the contract as a vote of confidence in Windber’s facility and research team, Mural said. The Military Cancer Institute joins the Walter Reed-based Clinical Breast Care Project in partnering with Windber.
Tissue and blood specimens collected during breast biopsies at Walter Reed have been stored at Windber since it was founded in 2001.
“The USMCI is part of this new group of cancer programs (at Walter Reed),” Mural said.
“We take that as a good sign.
“We have everything that is required for repository to the highest standard,” said Stella Somiari, tissue bank senior director.
“They thought it would be a good idea to store the specimens here rather than redesign a whole new facility at Walter Reed.”
Windber scientists will have limited access to the cancer institute’s tissues, if the projects meet cancer institute approval, Mural said.
But the expansion of the
tissue bank is the most exciting development, leaders stress.
“There will be more than just breast samples,” Mural said.
“They have a full range of tissue samples they have been collecting, and want to continue collecting.”
Windber’s reputation for quality control and record keeping may encourage more Walter Reed research groups to bring their tissue samples to Somerset County, Mural noted.
“The collection of biospecimens and clinical demographics – life history data – has been really well defined (at Windber),” Mura said. “Some of the other Walter Reed programs don’t have tissue collection going on.”
Windber’s specimen collecting procedures were set up through the Walter Reed partnership. It contains thousands of blood and tissue samples donated by patients undergoing breast biopsies at Walter Reed and the Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center in Windber. The system consistently has produced high-quality research samples.
“The chances of doing that in a military hospital are great,” Mural said.
“The structure is better able to have standard operating procedures and common protocol.
“You want to be very unified on how you do your biobanking.
“We have the possibility of becoming one of the central tissue banks.”
Breast Cancer
Related Photos
-
Sean Rigby, a research assistant at Windber Research Institute, opens the lid of a new liquid nitrogen freezer in the tissue bank area.
Discussion
Windber Research Institute adding freezers to tissue bank
- Breast Cancer
-
-
Mammograms save lives, but have weakness
Breast cancer screening for women over 50 saves lives, an independent panel in Britain has concluded, confirming findings in U.S. and other studies.
But that screening comes with a cost: The review found that for every life saved, roughly three other women were overdiagnosed, meaning they were unnecessarily treated for a cancer that would never have threatened their lives. -
Bout with breast cancer changes priorities for Portage survivor
Too many people live their lives and never stop to appreciate the simple things – a bonus summer day during a non-summer season, a tiny little hand resting in the grip of adult fingers, or the sweet sound of laughter from family and friends.
-
‘It was a miracle’: Woman credits God when cancer discovered during unrelated test
Erma and Joe Cogan were ready to embrace their retirement in 2010.
The West Providence Township couple had purchased a camper and headed out on a three-month tour of the country. -
Love of family fuels mom’s fight
There was no place in Roxane Hogue’s life for cancer. As a wife, mother of four and career woman, she didn’t have time to engage in a battle against the life-threatening disease. But when her doctor told her she had breast cancer, time stopped.
-
Friends fight cancer together
Two longtime friends in Wilmore shared much throughout their lives, including battles with breast cancer.
-
Celebrating life: Event pays tribute to breast-cancer survivors
When Roxane Hogue learned she had breast cancer in November, she kept the news a secret.
Fearing talk would put undue stress on her four children, Hogue decided she’d rather fight it silently. -
Teacher vigilant after genetics lesson: Breast cancer can strike any family member
Teacher Marie Olshefski learned that heredity plays a major role in breast cancer prevention and detection.
-
Faith got woman through ordeal
The ache in Cathy Fleegle’s breast didn’t worry her much at first.
Sure, she thought about cancer. At 56, she’d had seven or eight biopsies and knew the risks. But she’d heard people say that cancer didn’t hurt, so she decided it must be something else. -
Survivor turns to inner strength
As a makeup artist and beautician, Melissa Lovejoy of Indiana enjoys helping women look their best.
But when breast cancer and its subsequent treatments left her bald, she didn’t much care. -
Annual screenings urged
Women in rural areas of Cambria and Somerset counties can get their annual mammograms close to home, and be confident they will have the latest technology read by experts in a premier radiology organization.
- More Breast Cancer Headlines
-
Mammograms save lives, but have weakness
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel?
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind
Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
