Clinical Core
The Clinical Core of the Center for Cell Signaling in Gastroenterology supports faculty research by facilitating access to human biospecimens through two primary objectives:
- Centralizing, expediting and coordinating access to digestive disease-related biospecimens.
- Enhancing existing digestive disease-related biospecimen repositories within Mayo Clinic.
Core leadership
- Director: Lisa A. Boardman, M.D.
Services
The Clinical Core offers numerous services, mainly to center faculty members and their laboratory team members. These services include:
- Centralized access to 18 participating Mayo Clinic gastrointestinal biobanks and other institutional biospecimen resources.
- Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocol development and modification.
- Identification of biospecimens meeting specific research criteria.
- Pathologist review of tissues.
- Coordination of retrieval and delivery of biospecimens.
- De-identified, phenotypic and demographic data.
- Standardized epidemiological questionnaires for gastrointestinal biobanks.
- Coordination of fresh tissue acquisition from surgical pathology or endoscopy suites.
- Fecal collection kits and sample storage for microbiome-related projects.
- Obtaining consent of biobank participants.
- Facilitated access to institutional resources and initiatives, including Digital Pathomics and the Center for Individualized Medicine's Tapestry Study (exome sequence).
- Consultation on a variety of topics, including new biobank development, human biospecimens project feasibility and design, and human biospecimens processing recommendations.
External research access to services
Research teams outside of Mayo Clinic can access select core services as our resources permit. External researchers must be from Digestive Diseases Research Core Centers funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Email us for information.