The National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) established a Brain and Tissue Bank in order to provide human material for investigators studying children's diseases which alter normal development or maturation of the nervous system. The first Brain and Tissue Bank (BTB) was established in 1991 at the University of Maryland and this site now serves as its central tissue repository for the distribution of tissues to qualified investigators. A second Brain and Tissue Bank was established at the University of Miami's School of Medicine in 1993.

Goals and Accomplishments

The principal goal of the University of Miami brain and tissue bank is to provide well characterized and high quality tissue to researchers who are investigating the etiology, mechanisms of disease, and potential avenues of treatment into such disorders.

We have been highly successful in meeting this challenge. As of March 2002, the tissue bank had collected approximately 740 autopsies, 710 surgical biopsies and 1000 cell culture lines. Research tissue from the brain and tissue bank has been distributed to over 150 investigators, most of whom have NIH research grants.

Diseases Studied

Diseases of interest to the brain and tissue bank include autism, diseases causing mental retardation, chromosomal abnormalities including Down's Syndrome; musculo-skeletal disorders such as spinomuscular atrophy and muscular dystrophy; and acquired diseases such as perinatal asphyxia and trauma. Most of the cases are from infants and children with such disorders. In addition, the bank also collects and distributes cases affecting adults that are similar to those affecting children, such as amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or that represent diseases of children that extend into adulthood. Systemic organs including skin and muscle also are collected and distributed.

The brain and tissue bank collects and distributes normal tissue for studies relating to normal development and for control material as studies involving the above disorders.