Services

The Partners Biorepository for Medical Discovery (PBMD) offers a wide variety of sample collection and storage alternatives for both prospective sample collection and retrospective sample selection from the existing PBMD specimen bank.

In the current pilot phase, the PBMD is focused on the development of its initial sample collection from consented patients. Patients are being recruited and consented at both BWH and MGH through several methods, including patients participating in broad “open” recruitment opportunities such as the “Our Genes” initiative at BWH and through more narrowly focused recruitment activities in areas such as rheumatology, dermatology, and cardiology. As the PBMD expands beyond the pilot phase, focused collections are expected to widen into a large number of disease related groups including diabetes, asthma and other chronic conditions.

Through its affiliation with the Crimson Core lab at BWH, the PBMD is also able to access prospective collection of samples from “custom” cohorts of patients that are developed locally through the Partners RPDR research data repository. Typically samples are set aside from the clinical sample flow prior to discard and both the samples and the related data are fully anonymized.

Once the pilot phase is completed, services will include support for private sample banks as well as the collection of clinically discarded samples from across the Partners network via system wide consent practices.

Sample availability includes aliquots of concentrated DNA, serum and plasma.