BIOMARKERS VALIDATION LABORATORIES

University Of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The goals for the Biomarker Validation Laboratory-called the UCLA Defined Tumor-Marker Core (D-TEC)-are to: 1. Optimally coordinate a consortium of currently operational laboratories for the direct purpose of evaluating and analyzing any and all identified markers of tumorigenesis. These laboratories include: Human Tissue Research Center (tissue procurement, sectioning, and histology), Tissue Analysis Laboratories (conventional immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, high throughput tissue microarray), Molecular Pathology Laboratories (gene expression, chromosomal abnormalities, polymorphism, high throughput array-based mutation analysis), Immunoassay Laboratory (ELISA, Western blot analysis), and Cellular Analysis Laboratories (flow cytometry, cytology, chromosomal analysis, cytogenetics) These laboratories are all in the UCLA School of Medicine (the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, the Department of Human Genetics, and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center) and therefore, have an established interaction and collaboration. 2. Coordinate the infrastructure for a thoughtful, yet rapid and flexible mechanism for study design, implementation, data collection, and information analysis. This infrastructure consists of distinguished faculty at UCLA which includes: the Core Laboratory Directors, an Internal Advisory Board committed to assisting in project design and strategic planning, and Bioinformatics core with combined expertise in biostatistics, bioinformatics, and data analysis and mining, and a Pathology Consultation Core for correlation of pathology diagnosis with a marker expression. 3. Establish a "Development Study" which will specifically focus on the production of tumor- specific tissue arrays to be used as one of the high throughput techniques for tumor marker evaluation.