Research Portal

OHSU Knight BioLibrary

cryofreezer

The BioLibrary contains more than 500,000 cases, approximately 3 million samples covering 230 anatomical sites. A primary repository within the BioLibrary that focuses on OHSU oncology specimens is the Knight Tissue Bank (KTB). The Knight Tissue Bank has been accredited by the College of American Pathologists since October 2012.

The KTB was established with the express intent on collecting residual clinical specimens so that they may be offered for use in research. Information on the BioLibrary procedures for consenting, acquisition, storage and distribution practices may be found here. 

Consent process

All OHSU patients are presented with a research notice and informational brochure during the registration process, and again before any surgical procedures are performed. For information about the consenting process at OHSU and to view the associated materials that are available to patients visit the Patient Portal.

Specimen request process

To request specimens from the BioLibrary, or to inquire if we have specimens that meet your research needs, please email or call (503) 494-9648

Specimen preparations that the KTB holds include:

  • Fresh frozen: tissues averaging 0.5cm3, these specimens are flash frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored long-term in LN vapor.
  • FFPE: formalin fixed, paraffin embedded solid tissue samples in which the average weight is 0.8 grams. Tissues have been fixed in 10% buffered formalin for a minimum of 24 hours prior to being transferred to 70% ethanol (average 3 daysin ethanol prior to embedding). The median pecent tumor cells found in the FFPE is 70%, with an average amount of necrotic cells to be 0.85% across the entire tissue sample.
  • OCT: optimum cutting temperature media embedded tissue, for which the average weight is 0.4 g; stored at -80C
  • Primary cell cultures: the KTB holds a minimum number of primary cell cultures containing a minimum of 10 million cells.
  • Other: the KTB also has whole blood, blood derivatives and other biological samples for some cases. Researchers can contact BioLibrary staff for more information on the preparations of these specimen types.

The BioLibrary has good annotative data on many of the samples stored, which includes:

  • Patient demographics
  • Treatments and clinical outcomes
  • Research and clinical trial participation
  • Genetic profiles
  • Research analyses
  • Specimen imaging