VITAL Core

James Gardner, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery

The UCSF Department of Surgery, as part of its longstanding collaborative relationship with Donor Network West (DNW), is eager to improve access for the research community at UCSF and beyond to deceased-donor organs and tissues from altruistic donors who wish to contribute not just for organ transplantation but also for the advancement of scientific research. Established by Dr. James Gardner, the Viable Tissue Acquisition Laboratory (VITAL) core dramatically accelerates and facilitates the interface between the basic science community and the Donor Network. The VITAL core provides tissues that are de-identified and IRB-designated as non-human subjects research, facilitating the study of complex human biology with a range of next-generation methods. Access to this precious resourse not only facilitates scientific progress but also honors the request of those many donors who have generously designated their tissues for this work.

New Requests are typically processed within a few weeks. Any interested investigators should complete the forms below and for additional information you may contact Dr. James Gardner ([email protected])

We currently offer the following sample types for research.

Tissue

• Abdominal Skin (2x10cm)
• Adipose
• Adrenal glands (Bilateral)
• Aortic segments
• Aorto-renal branches
• Arch vessels
• Brain Hemisphere
• Brain samples (Cortical Regions 2-3g)
• Carotid body
• Cerebellum, (2-3 g)
• Choroid plexus
• Coronary arteries
• Dura Sinus
• Eye (Whole, unilateral)
• Heart (whole/segment)
• Hypothalamus (uni- or bilateral)
• Hypothalamus slab
• Infrarenal aortic tissue
• Large Intestine (full/seg)
• Liver Segments
• Lung (Unilateral)
• Lymph Nodes
• Ovary (Bilateral)
• Parathyroid
• Parotid salivary gland
• Partial Pancreas
• Peripheral Blood A 5-ml tube of (whole blood)
• Serum (5-10 ml)
• Skull Bone marrow (<10 g )
• Small Intestine (full/seg)
• Spleen
• Striatum (5-10gr)
• Substantia Nigra
• Testis (Bilateral)
• Thymus
• Unilateral Entire Hippocampus
• Vertebral Body (2 from any location)
• Whole Brain
• Whole Kidney
• Whole uterusx