Tissue Collections and Processing Core

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Tissue Collections and Processing Core (TCPC), led by Professor Manish Patankar, PhD, of our Reproductive Sciences Division, is currently collecting obstetric tissue and fluid that would otherwise be discarded after delivery at Meriter Hospital.

Tissue samples will be used in research studies to learn more about conditions that affect women and babies during pregnancy. These samples may include umbilical cord tissue and blood, maternal blood and placenta. Participation in this study is purely voluntary and the identities of tissue donors will be protected. No extra hospital visits or procedures will be necessary.

Download the UW Ob-Gyn Tissue Bank flyer

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TCPC Staff

Surena Becraft

Role title: TCPC Manager

Email: sbecraft@wisc.edu

Role title: Temp Senior Research Specialist

Jocelyn Chen

Role title: Research Specialist

The Dept ObGyn offers support to research by its creation of the Tissue Collection and Processing Core. This was created to draw upon the considerable expertise of our many full time research faculty who can act as a bridge between the clinical coordinators/services and the investigator. In this way we ensure that all samples are collected, processed and stored in a timely manner by highly experienced staff.  Only by ensuring the highest quality of sample collection and safe storage in our temperature monitored freezer facility can we ensure the highest quality data outcome. In addition, we have supported the establishment of ongoing assay capabilities ‘in house’, including Luminex assays, and our Core staff are experienced in interfacing with the Biotech center for many forms of ‘Omics’ analysis. In this way we are able to bring the very latest technology to impact on our research into Women’s health.

In order to faciltitate rapid and high quality sample collections the dept ObGyn has supports the creation and operation of the Tissue Collections and Processing Core. This core is lead by Dr. Patankar at the Clinical Science Center, who works with Dr. Bird at Meriter Hospital. Both are full time Tenured Research Faculty in Dept OBGyn with decades of NIH funded grant experience in the Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Bird also has a background in Clinical Chemistry. They in turn can advise other ObGyn Faculty and offer support by / oversee the efforts of additional senior technical staff Surena Becraft and Beth Bird, who have decades of research experience in the handling and analysis of blood, biological fluids, cells and tissues for subsequent proteins, lipid, RNA, DNA, and metabolites analysis (including multiple form of omics analysis). Our staff are not only experienced in these many forms of quantitative assays including the use of our Luminex analyzer, they are also able to interface with the UW Biotech center to ensure smooth transfer of samples for multiple forms of Omics analysis. The key with all such analysis is time and the team operates to follows the appropriate timeline of sample collection far faster than most hospital clinical labs otherwise achieve. This is possible because of our dedicated collection and storage facilities built within the department research infrastructure. This is complimented by our freezer area where we have constant online telemetry and ongoing performance assessment of each unit, and additional liquid nitrogen backup for our -80C freezer. As such we can not only respond in the event of equipment failure but also anticipate and avoid such equipment failure. Storage is also combined with ongoing inventory control so we can rapidly locate and recover stored samples.