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The NCI-Frederick Central Repository - A Transformation in Progress

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The NCI-Frederick Central Repository is undergoing a major transformation. It began about 20 months ago with SAIC-Frederick, Inc. awarding a subcontract to McKesson BioServices, Inc. (MBS) for managing the day-to-day activities of the Central Repository under the direction of Dr. Kathleen Groover and her team of repository professionals.  Immediately after, the Repository Quality Board (RQB) was reorganized to oversee the direction of this dynamic and critical repository operation. 

The Central Repository comprises three buildings; together, these three facilities offer storage of samples at either Room Temperature, +4°C, -20°C, -80°C or -150°C (vapor phase of liquid nitrogen).  The amount of available space for storage varies at each building.   Two of these buildings, 434 and 1066, are located at Fort Detrick.  Building 434, the oldest of the three, offers liquid nitrogen storage for samples such as cell lines, sperm, and RNA, and serves as an accessible storage facility for many investigators on base.  Building 1066 offers -20°C and -80°C storage in mechanical freezer units.  The third building is located at the Wedgewood II Industrial Park Center in Frederick (directions are available on the Central Repository Web site) .  The construction of the Wedgewood state-of-the art facility is a further testament to the ongoing Central Repository transformation.  The Wedgewood facility replaced the East Street Repository in January 2003 and was the recipient of the 2003 Award of Merit for Best Biotechnology Facility from the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (MD/DC Chapter). 

So what types of samples are stored at Wedgewood?  "Basically, anything and everything," says Dr. Groover.  "All biological-type samples such as blood, urine, serum, plasma, and white/red blood cells are stored.  We also have paraffin-block tissue storage, cell lines, and environmental samples such as water, dust, dirt, even vacuum bags," she adds. In addition, Wedgewood offers +4°C walk-in storage and a processing/aliquoting laboratory may later be added to this facility. 

All of the Central Repository facilities are available to NCI researchers to assist them in storing/retrieving their samples (except radioactive or chemical samples).  In fact, the Central Repository supports NCI clients such as the Center for Cancer Research (CCR), the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG), and the Developmental Therapeutics Program (DTP), other agencies that have set up inter-agency agreements with the NCI, such as United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and other institutes like the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).  

In addition to the Central Repository, Dr. Groover also manages two DTP-dedicated facilities-the Natural Products Repository and the Tumor Bank Repository. Dr. Mark Cosentino serves as the SAIC-Frederick, Inc. Project Manager for the MBS subcontract.  Together, Drs. Groover and Cosentino aim to make the Central Repository a model for all repository facilities, both in terms of storage and, most importantly, user services. 

Critical to accomplishing their service-oriented goal and continuing the Central Repository transformation has been the establishment of the Central Repository Web site, accessible through a common NCI-Frederick Repository portal site entitled "Repositories" that is listed on the NCI-Frederick Home Page under the" Research at NCI-Frederick" section.  The portal allows direct access to the Web sites of 5 current NCI-Frederick repositories: Central, Tumor Bank, Natural Products, BRB Pre-Clinical Cytokine, and Mouse Models of Human Cancers Consortium.  For the first time, all users can use the Central Repository's new Web site at http://web.ncifcrf.gov/repository/cr/ to obtain information about sample storage and to electronically complete the required specimen submission/withdrawal forms.  If you are a new requestor, click on the "New User" link and fill out the online "Information Request Form," which helps streamline all future requests.  Current users can directly choose from the "Forms" menu to fill out any of these forms:

     --Standard Input Form

     --Standard Withdrawal Form

     --Large-Volume Input Form

     --Bulk Withdrawal Form

     --Controlled Rate Freeze Form

The new Central Repository Web site also provides helpful information about sample preparation.  A "White Paper on Labeling of Biological Specimens" [http://web.ncifcrf.gov/repository/cr/docs/WhitePaper.pdf] is posted on the site under the "Science" menu; this document provides guidance in selecting the right container and using appropriate labeling, both of which are critical to successful storage.   Investigators are strongly encouraged to contact Dr. Groover or Ms Judith Franke (Assistant Principal Investigator) at 301-694-5911 to get guidance before they start a new study. "Whenever possible, we would like to get involved as early in a process as possible, especially in large clinical studies, so that we can provide the downstream guidance that is often not thought about until well into a study with regard to shipping, storage, labeling, and so forth," says Dr. Groover.  Dr. Groover and Ms Franke can also give researchers valuable advice about risk management (e.g., should samples be divided between two freezers or two facilities?). 

In addition to the new Web site, online forms, and user training meetings (posted on the Central Repository Web site under the "Initiatives" section), the Central Repository staff hopes to continually transform the repository by standardizing on- and off-campus operations so that samples can be more easily accessible; implementing a bar-code sample labeling system; posting additional repository-relevant scientific information on the website; providing more in-depth user training on repository-relevant topics; initiating a freezer rental program; and updating our specimen tracking system.   "Our goal is for the Central Repository to become the 'gold standard' for all repositories," said Dr. Cosentino. 

Written by Kathryn Ellis
Office of Communication
Center for Cancer Research (CCR)
National Cancer Institute at Frederick

Edited by Susan Fox
Office of Communication
Center for Cancer Research (CCR)
National Cancer Institute at Frederick

and Maritta Grau
Scientific Publications, Graphics & Media
SAIC-Frederick, Inc.

Photography by Martha Welch
Scientific Publications, Graphics & Media
SAIC-Frederick, Inc.

Web Graphics and Development by Jim Miller
Computer & Statistical Services
Data Management Services, Inc.
National Cancer Institute at Frederick