Human Tissue Resource Network

The Collaborative Human Tissue Network (the CHTN) was established in 1987 by the National Cancer Institute in response to an increase in the demand for high quality biospecimens for cancer research. The purpose of the CHTN is to stimulate, for the good of the public, cooperative efforts to collect and distribute human biospecimens and to thereby facilitate research utilizing those specimens. These activities are expected to encourage basic and developmental studies in many areas of cancer research, including molecular biology, immunology and genetics. The CHTN is not intended to be a human tissue bank, but instead procures tissue at the request of an investigator. Limited banking was be done as needed to meet specific requests and longer-term banking of targeted specimens to assure availability of rare and hard to obtain materials. It is funded under a UM1 NIH grant.

The CHTN has six divisions, five adult divisions and one pediatric division. These divisions are located at the following institutions:

The CHTN was established in 1987 as the Cooperative Human Tissue Network by the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Diagnosis Program. The University of Alabama at Birmingham, National Disease Research Interchange in conjunction with the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and Ohio State University with a subcontract to Nationwide Children's Hospital were awarded the first Cooperative Human Tissue Network grant by the NCI. A second grant was funded during 1991-1995, and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) joined the CHTN and Nationwide Children’s Hospital became an independent group. A third round of funding provided for 1996-2001, and the funding was transferred from NDRI to the University of Pennsylvania. The grant was renewed a fourth time for 2001-2006, in which the University of Virginia was added and Vanderbilt University replaced Case Western Reserve University. A fifth grant was given for 2008 through 2013, and the sixth for 2014-2019, with supplemental funding bridging the years in between grants. The name was changed in 2014 to the Collaborative Human Tissue Network.

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