Automation of Liquid Nitrogen Freezer for Cryopreservation of Unique Human Biospecimens at the Vanderbilt Biospecimen Storage Facility

Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville TN

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary Large, high-dimensional clinical, genetic and biomarker data linked to bio-repositories are driving basic, clinical and translational research. For the past 20 years, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has made long-term strategic investments in translational sciences as a platform for excellence across clinical and basic science departments and is internationally recognized as a leader in such fields as personalized medicine, vaccinology, and cancer care and research. As examples, BioVU, Vanderbilt’s large-scale biorepository, contains detailed de-identified human phenotype information linked to de-identified discarded samples and genotypes. Viably cryopreserved human specimens enabled the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center to isolate monoclonal antibodies against COVID-19 that were developed into Evusheld, a therapy to prevent COVID-19 in at-risk individuals. Cooperative Human Tissue Network at VUMC is one of only six funded by the National Cancer Institute to procure and distribute human tissues to researchers throughout the US, Canada, and internationally. These resources and others provide an accelerating engine of discovery. Collectively these endeavors are providing powerful predictors of disease risk, disease progression or response to therapy and underpinning studies delineating the fundamental mechanism of disease as well as translation to the clinic. These large-scale initiatives generate a massive number of valuable human and animal tissue samples. These tissues can only be viably cryopreserved when stored in liquid nitrogen. The size of these biorepositories is exceeding the capacity of individual investigators or groups to effectively curate, maintain sample integrity and rapidly retrieve samples for further study. Many of these materials could not be replaced and are of international importance. To meet this large and growing need, a specialized automated -190°C Cryogenic Freezer for Sample Storage system is necessary to manage, store and retrieve the tens of thousands of biorepository samples. This proposal seeks to obtain funding for the purchase of an Azenta BioStore Cryo M60 robotic liquid nitrogen freezer system that can accommodate all large biorepositories at Vanderbilt. With such a system Vanderbilt can provide the necessary institutional support, environment and expertise to ensure cost- effective, quality assured management, storage and retrieval of these critical samples and reagents. The technology is durable and scalable and therefore it can be predicted that this automated system will enable a broad range of investigators and propel basic, clinical and translational research long into the future.