What is it?

The Tissue Bank holds an unscheduled collection of human tissues (predominantly malignancies with paired normal tissue controls and blood) for use in approved research projects. The collection has been in existence since 1997 as the NCC Tissue Repository and is now part of the STR. The Tissue bank provides de-identified human tissues that have been collected from patients with informed consent, in accordance with local guidelines and international best practices. Currently we collect tissues from clinical departments in the Outram campus (SGH, NCC, SERI, NDC), KK Woman's and Children’s Hospital.

What do we do?

Tissue Bank staff will approach patients about to undergo surgery and obtain their consent for donation of tissues for research purposes. The donation involves remnant tissues removed during surgery that are no longer required for diagnosis and treatment of the patient’s condition. Having been informed of the donation, our officers in the Operating Theatre (OT) ensure that the consent forms are in order and harvest tissues as soon as the specimens have been resected. Our technicians then process and electronically record the specimen, which is stored in liquid nitrogen. As part of quality assurance, a portion of the specimen is processed in paraffin and subjected to histological assessment by a pathologist. At regular intervals, a selection of harvested samples is assessed for RNA integrity.

 In addition, we provide research services such as tissue processing, histological stains, histology consultation, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, interphase FISH and tissue microarray construction (some of which will attract a fee).

Tissue Bank Personnel

Sr. Medical Technologist	: :	Elsie Kok Magdalene Koh
Pathology Associate	:	Aye Aye Aung (KK Hospital)
	:	Frecila Figueroa  (Outram Campus)
	:	EiEi Thit (Outram Campus)
	:	Felipe S. Templo, Jr (Outram Campus)
Medical Technologist	:	Khin Sabai
	:	Sam Xin Xiu
	:	Ye Htut Oo
	:	Josh Loh

 

Click here for process of tissues collection

 FAQ

I am a researcher. How do I access tissues?

I am a surgeon/clinician. How do I contribute tissues to the STR?

I am a patient about to undergo surgery. How do I donate remnant tissues to the STR?