Via NDRI
PHILADELPHIA, PA., September 20, 2018 — The National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI) has been awarded more than $800,000 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to supplement a current $6.5 million grant provided to NDRI that supports continued national leadership with the recovery and distribution of human organs and tissues for medical research over the course of five years. The supplemental awards provide support for NDRI to serve as a human biospecimen resource for research focused specifically on Alzheimer’s disease, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and HIV/AIDS. The three awards are supplements to NDRI’s Human Tissues and Organs for Research Resources (HTORR) program which has been supported by the NIH since 1987.
The first supplemental award focuses on Alzheimer’s disease and its related Dementias (AD/ADRD). The primary objective of the award is to address current gaps in research by developing a comprehensive AD/ADRD human biospecimen resource that will provide highly-annotated biospecimens from living and post mortem donors with a history of AD/ADRD. This award is provided by the National Institute on Aging and the Office of the Director.
The second supplemental award focuses on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). NDRI will provide the NIH’s Neurobiobanks with post mortem brains recovered from donors with a history of ASD that will further research into the etiology of the disorder. A second objective of this work is to collaborate with leading medical research institutions and healthcare professional to identify and recover age-match control brains. This award is provided by the National Institutes of Mental Health and the Office of the Director.
HIV/AIDS is the focus of the third supplemental award with an objective to develop an HIV Human Tissue Resource for Large Scale and Cohort-Specific HIV Studies. Through this grant NDRI will provide federally-funded investigators access to a rigorous and uniform collection of human biospecimens obtained from defined cohorts of HIV positive donors with the intent of yielding consistent and reproducible experimental results for groundbreaking studies. This award is provided by the Office of the Director of the NIH.
“The combined public health impact of Alzheimer’s disease, Autism Spectrum Disorder and HIV/AIDS is staggering,” said Bill Leinweber, President and CEO of NDRI. “We look forward to supporting these critical research efforts with the expertise and competencies NDRI has demonstrated though our HTORR program.”
“It is indeed a privilege for NDRI to be awarded support from the NIH to further leverage the impact of our longstanding efforts to support investigators with the biospecimens needed to advance discovery,” said Mary Hendrix, PhD, President of Shepherd University and Chair of the NDRI Board of Directors.
About NDRI
The National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI) is the nation’s leading source of human tissues, cells and organs for scientific research. A not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization founded in 1980, NDRI is funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, public and private foundations and organizations, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporations. NDRI is a 24/7 operation that partners with a nationwide network of over 130 tissue source sites (TSS), including organ procurement organizations (OPOs), tissue banks, eye banks, and hospitals. The TSS, are distributed throughout the USA, in 45 states, with concentrations in major metropolitan areas on both the east and west coasts. Their wide geographic distribution allows NDRI to provide biospecimens from donor populations with diverse demographics and also facilitates the timely and efficient provision of fresh tissues directly to researchers across the U.S. and around the world. By serving as the liaison between procurement sources and the research community, NDRI is uniquely positioned to support breakthrough advances and discoveries that can affect advances in the treatment and cure of human diseases.
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Media Inquiries:
Eileen P. Falchetta
Director, Marketing & Communications
215-557-7361, ext. 239
Efalchetta@ndriresource.org
The first supplemental award focuses on Alzheimer’s disease and its related Dementias (AD/ADRD). The primary objective of the award is to address current gaps in research by developing a comprehensive AD/ADRD human biospecimen resource that will provide highly-annotated biospecimens from living and post mortem donors with a history of AD/ADRD. This award is provided by the National Institute on Aging and the Office of the Director.
The second supplemental award focuses on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). NDRI will provide the NIH’s Neurobiobanks with post mortem brains recovered from donors with a history of ASD that will further research into the etiology of the disorder. A second objective of this work is to collaborate with leading medical research institutions and healthcare professional to identify and recover age-match control brains. This award is provided by the National Institutes of Mental Health and the Office of the Director.
HIV/AIDS is the focus of the third supplemental award with an objective to develop an HIV Human Tissue Resource for Large Scale and Cohort-Specific HIV Studies. Through this grant NDRI will provide federally-funded investigators access to a rigorous and uniform collection of human biospecimens obtained from defined cohorts of HIV positive donors with the intent of yielding consistent and reproducible experimental results for groundbreaking studies. This award is provided by the Office of the Director of the NIH.
“The combined public health impact of Alzheimer’s disease, Autism Spectrum Disorder and HIV/AIDS is staggering,” said Bill Leinweber, President and CEO of NDRI. “We look forward to supporting these critical research efforts with the expertise and competencies NDRI has demonstrated though our HTORR program.”
“It is indeed a privilege for NDRI to be awarded support from the NIH to further leverage the impact of our longstanding efforts to support investigators with the biospecimens needed to advance discovery,” said Mary Hendrix, PhD, President of Shepherd University and Chair of the NDRI Board of Directors.
About NDRI
The National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI) is the nation’s leading source of human tissues, cells and organs for scientific research. A not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization founded in 1980, NDRI is funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, public and private foundations and organizations, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporations. NDRI is a 24/7 operation that partners with a nationwide network of over 130 tissue source sites (TSS), including organ procurement organizations (OPOs), tissue banks, eye banks, and hospitals. The TSS, are distributed throughout the USA, in 45 states, with concentrations in major metropolitan areas on both the east and west coasts. Their wide geographic distribution allows NDRI to provide biospecimens from donor populations with diverse demographics and also facilitates the timely and efficient provision of fresh tissues directly to researchers across the U.S. and around the world. By serving as the liaison between procurement sources and the research community, NDRI is uniquely positioned to support breakthrough advances and discoveries that can affect advances in the treatment and cure of human diseases.
# # #
Media Inquiries:
Eileen P. Falchetta
Director, Marketing & Communications
215-557-7361, ext. 239
Efalchetta@ndriresource.org
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