The Institutional Biobank is a member of The University of Texas System Health Biobank (UTHSB) Consortium. The consortium is a UT System Administration initiative designed to improve the health of Texans by providing a standardized biospecimen / related data search and request mechanism for UT personnel at participating institution.  UT investigators can browse biorepositories and tissue collections across participating UT System institutions and submit requests for biospecimens.

Investigators from non-UT System institutions should contact the biorepository of interest directly (see contact information below).

 

Ramiro Ramirez-Solis, Ph.D.

Director of Institutional Core Facilities

RamirezSolis@uthscsa.edu

Biobehavioral Laboratory Biorepository image

Biobehavioral Laboratory Biorepository

The Biobehavioral Biorepository & Research Laboratory, housed at the School of Nursing, is a center of excellence for salivary science and biobanking. It serves as a one-stop shop for students and researchers for designing and conducting research studies involving biobehavioral methods.

Sample types

Biorepository: Blood, serum, plasma, urine, saliva, breast milk

Contacts 

Chun-Liang Chen, Ph.D.
Director
(210) 567-0362
chenc4@uthscas.edu
 
Center for Renal Precision Medicine Biorepository image of lungs

Center for Renal Precision Medicine Biorepository

CRPM serves as a major resource for the national and international research communities, providing expertise in new technologies, hosting a biorepository of clinical samples for multiple types of analyses, and compiling and maintaining a bank of clinical information.

Contacts

Kumar Sharma, M.D.
Director, CRPM Nephrology
(210) 450-9650
sharmak3@uthscsa.edu
Hongping Ye, Ph.D.
Director, Research Core Facility
(210) 567-4700
yeh1@uthscsa.edu
The Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer's & Neurodegenerative Diseases Biorepository image showing doctor holding brain specimen

The Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer's & Neurodegenerative Diseases Biorepository

The biorepository focuses on diseases that affect the central nervous system, including dementia, movement disorders, cerebrovascular disorders and neuromuscular disorders. It includes biospecimen along the brain aging and degenerative spectrum.

Sample types

  • Biorepository: blood, cerebrospinal fluid (antemortem), DNA
  • Brain Bank: autopsy brain and spinal cord tissue (10% formalin-fixed and fresh frozen), tissue blocks, tissue slides, fibroblasts (derived from postmortem dermal tissue), cerebrospinal fluid (postmortem)

Contacts 

Tiffany Kautz, Ph.D.
Biobank Director
(210) 450-8684
kautz@uthscsa.edu
Kevin Bieniek, Ph.D.
Brain Bank Director
(210) 450-8407
bieniek@uthscsa.edu
Margaret E. Flanagan, MD
Brain Bank Co-Director
(210) 489-7597
flanaganm1@uthscsa.edu
 
Mays Cancer Center Biorepository image showing cancer markers

Mays Cancer Center Biorepository

The Mays Cancer Center (MCC) Biorepository processes, stores and distributes cancer-related specimens to support translation cancer research. The current tissue collection primarily contains genitourinary cancers including prostate, bladder, kidney, testicular and penile cancer; however, the collection is expanding to include gastric, colon and breast cancers. The repository has staff that can assist in recruiting all tumor types based on need.

Sample types

  • Tumor and normal adjacent tissues: paraffin embedded, formalin fixed, frozen
  • Biologics: blood (whole blood, serum, plasma, PBMCs), urine (Progensa tubes, pellets and supernatant), stool
  • Nucleic Acids: DNA, RNA

Contacts 

Robin Leach, Ph.D.
Director of MCC Biorepository
(210) 567-6947
biospecimencore@uthscsa.edu
Teresa Johnson-Pais, Ph.D.
Co-Director of MCC Biorepository
(210) 567-6571
Paist@uthscsa.edu
UT Health San Antonio STRONG STAR Repository image showing an x-ray drawing of a skull and brain

UT Health San Antonio STRONG STAR Repository

The repository supports local and national interdisciplinary and multi-institutional research focused on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and associated conditions such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), sleep disorders, chronic pain, substance use disorders, tinnitus, and suicide. It governs the collection, maintenance, and dissemination of clinical and research data, biological specimens, and neuroimages.

Sample types

Biomarkers: Blood, Salivary

Contacts

Alan Peterson, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
(210) 562-6700
petersona3@uthscsa.edu
Douglas Williamson, Ph.D.
Core Associate Director
(919) 684-3157
douglas.williamson@duke.edu
Brett C. Ginsburg, Ph.D.
Core Associate Director
(210) 567-0871
ginsburg@uthscsa.edu
Marisa Lopez-Cruzan, Ph.D.
Core Assistant Director
(210) 567-5463
lopezcruzan@uthscsa.edu

 

UT Health San Antonio Transplant Center image of doctor holding transplant piece

UT Health San Antonio Transplant Center

The UT Health San Antonio Transplant Center Biorepository collects, processes, stores, and distributes biospecimen from living organ donors, transplant recipients, and hepatobiliary resection cases. We include adult and pediatric populations.

Sample types

  • Blood: Serum, plasma and buffy coats
  • Tissue Specimens: Kidney, liver, pancreas, bile duct, liver/pancreatic resections

Contacts

Jillian Woodworth, MBS
Manager, Research Operations
(210) 743-7875
woodworthj@uthscsa.edu
 

 

 

South Texas Aging Registry & Repository (STARR) image

South Texas Aging Registry & Repository (STARR)

The South Texas Aging Registry and Repository (STARR) is a database and specimen resource of adults 18 years of age or older from the South Texas community who are healthy as well as those who have chronic disease. Participants who agree to be re-contacted will be matched with future IRB-approved studies which they are likely to qualify for based upon information provided by each STARR participant at the time of enrollment and which is gathered using provided samples. This will facilitate the inclusion of older adults in clinical research studies and help to accelerate and enhance the quality of research relating to them

Sample types

Biorepository: Blood (serum, plasma, white blood cells), nucleic acids (DNA, RNA), biopsy tissue (subaxillary skin, subcutaneous adipose tissue)

Contacts

Elena Volpi, MD, Ph.D., FGSA
Core Co-Director
(210) 562-6139
volpi@uthscsa.edu
Adam Salmon, Ph.D.
Core Co-Director
(210) 562-6136
salmona@uthscsa.edu