Breast Cancer Tissue Bank
In the coming years we will see the benefits to people with breast cancer, as research using tissues from the Bank will lead to new treatments which have the potential to save the lives of many thousands of people with this disease.
Professor Alastair Thompson, Chair of the Tissue Bank Review Committee and Professor of Surgical Oncology, University of Dundee.
Barts Cancer Institute, is announced as one of the locations of the world’s first national breast cancer tissue bank.
This ground breaking initiative will see the Barts Cancer Institute and 3 other centres around the country working together as one national resource, to house the multi-million pound Breast Cancer Campaign Tissue Bank. Professor Louise Jones and a dedicated team will head up the Tissue bank in the Barts Cancer institute.
| The BCI Tissue Bank Team | Role |
|---|---|
| Professor Louise Jones | Tissue Bank Principle Investigator |
| Dr Claude Chelela | Tissue Bank Bioinformatics Lead |
| Mr George Elia | Senior Tissue Bank Technician |
| Ms Darling Boachie Yiadom | Tissue Bank Research Technician |
Every breast cancer patient who has tissue removed at the hospital will be asked if they consent to any tissue that is not needed for medical purposes to be kept for scientific research.
This coalition of centres will store the breast tissue samples, donated by patients throughout the country, safely and consistently and will be available to scientists whatever their location in the UK and Ireland. Currently there is no large source of breast tissue like this available to scientists and doctors anywhere in the world.
This initiative is expected to break the main barrier to progress caused by a shortage of good quality tissue - the raw material for research.
