We believe outstanding clinical care for patients with breast cancer is directly linked to our breast oncology research program and our active network-wide breast cancer biorepository. Since the rejuvenation of research focus by Dr. Lisa Newman, the current rate of consenting breast cancer research is approximately one hundred patients per quarter with a patient cohort that is ethnically diverse.
Additionally, consented patient's biospecimen collections now include Saliva (germline DNA), Blood (circulating biomarkers), Fresh and Frozen tumor, Fresh and Frozen normal tissue as well as a catalog of archival tumor material. Much of this is due to strategic partnerships with Departments of Pathology, Surgery and the Institute of Precision Medicine.
Lastly, international specimen from Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Antigua and Brazil are also part of the biorepository and afford population-level research that traverses the African diaspora, to empower cancer disparities research in unprecedented ways.
