Coriell Institute was recently awarded a milestone contract extension for its National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) repository, which houses an extensive and diverse collection of biospecimens assembled to facilitate studies aimed at accelerating the discovery of disease-relevant biomarkers for neurological disorders and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's Disease and Huntington's Disease.
As a division of the National Institutes of Health, the NINDS collection has amassed whole blood DNA, whole blood RNA, lymphoblastoid cell lines, fibroblasts, human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), cerebrospinal fluid, serum, plasma, and urine samples, as well as corresponding de-identified clinical data from a diverse population of affected and unaffected individuals. To date, the collection encompasses biospecimens collected from more than 44,000 genetically unique individuals.
Coriell began housing the repository in 2002 and it has flourished since, serving as a widely utilized public asset for scientists and researchers around the world pursuing inroads in the fight against neurological disorders.
The $7.7M award will be distributed to three primary areas of the repository: whole blood collection for genetic studies; patient-derived fibroblast and iPSC carrying well-defined mutations or genetic variants; and the rapidly expanding Biomarkers Discovery Collections, an emerging field of interest that relates to an individual assessment of disease prediction, susceptibility, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment.
"Coriell's longstanding success managing this critical and valuable scientific resource is a testament to the tireless dedication of an expert team of individuals and our station as an international leader in the area of biobanking for medical research," says Dr. Chi Tarn, the principal investigator of the collection.
To learn more about Coriell's NINDS Repository, click here.
