Biospecimen Collection

Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville TN

Investigators

Abstract

A key deliverable of the Human Virome Project (HVP) is a broad collection of biospecimens that are longitudinal and encompass a broad diversity of biofluid/sample type and participant age, with standardization of specimen collection. The V2C2 Biospecimen Collection Core (BCC), based at the UTHealth SPH-Brownsville and Vanderbilt will be responsible for a standardized collection protocol (prospective samples) and processing of serially sampled retrospective (immediately available for assay) and prospective biospecimens with metadata from population-based cohorts without disease. Our first sample is from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (CCHC), a cohort of ≈5,100 minority, low-income Hispanic/Latino population (H/L; Mexican-Americans) from randomly ascertained households in the city of Brownsville on the Texas/Mexico border. We will select ≈1750 individuals having archived data and biospecimens over 2 visits collected up to a maximum follow-up of ≈20 years, randomly sample across strata of age (8-90 years), sex, and body mass index with plasma, buffy coat, and urine (healthy persons sample to catalogue human virome). This immediately available cohort is supplemented by a prospective sample of ≈500 individuals at 3 time points over ≈5 years. Our second sample is ≈200 children in the CANOE-VU cohort at Vanderbilt, an ongoing birth cohort, with both parental samples (maternal and placenta) and perinatal (meconium, urine, blood) and infant and childhood samples (serial collections). A broad prospective sampling is performed (ocular, nasal, oropharyngeal, plasma, blood [extracellular vesicles, PBMCs, platelets], urine, stool, plus placental/breast milk samples for pediatric). We will prioritize plasma (all samples) and 3 additional sample types (prospective only) based on consortium discussion. All biospecimens pass a quality filter (e.g., hemolysis, quantity) before storage at CCHC biorepository. In Aim 1, we will identify and process immediately available never-thawed biospecimens and metadata from CCHC with long-term follow-up (up to maximum ≈20 years; adult). In Aim 2, we will collect/process longitudinal prospective biospecimens and metadata from CCHC and CANOE-VU. We will preserve a broad range of sample types as noted above, with viral characterization to include plasma and 3 additional biotypes (with additional biological sample sites available for profiling as determined during HVP). In Aim 3, we harmonize prospective collection protocols and metadata across sites. This will occur early in HVP to harmonize protocols from the point of contact with the participant to the data analysis to limit variability and improve rigor. Our BCC offers unique advantages to the HVP, including diversity (geography, social determinants of health, ancestry), follow-up (up to 20 years in the CCHC), extensive omic data funded externally, standardized processing/biobanking and metadata ascertainment, community engagement, external funding to boost cost-effectiveness. The leadership of the BCC showcases experts in human virology, cohort recruitment and retention across the life-course, and specific expertise in suitable sample collection for virologic studies, critical to ensuring successful biospecimen collection.