Histopathology and Tissue Shared Resource

Services and Research Support

Services offered by the shared resource include:

  • Advice and guidance on the use and applications of methodologies and on experimental design
  • Support for the writing of methods for grant proposals and scientific manuscripts
  • Research and development to fit users’ specific needs
  • Training on the safe and proper use of instrumentation
  • Mentoring of technicians and students involved in projects

Research support available includes:

  • Contact: Anju Duttargi, (202) 687-0641 or ad1155@georgetown.edu.
  • Tissue Collection — Fresh Frozen Tissues
    • Consent from Georgetown University Hospital (GUH) patients are obtained for the collection of excess tissues.
    • Fresh human tissues are collected, frozen, stored, and inventoried from various anatomic sites: Brain, Breast, Colon, Esophagus, Kidney, Liver, Lung, Pancreas, Stomach, Thyroid, Uterus.
    • Requests for frozen specimens must go through a specific approval process by the Biospecimen Use Committee. The review is based on scientific merit and statistical validity of the proposed project, amongst other factors.
  • Tissue Collection — MGUH Archival Paraffin Embedded Tissues
    • Paraffin embedded human tissue blocks are available from the archives of the Pathology Department of the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.
    • HTB conducts database searches of pathology records, as requested, for retrieval of human tissue blocks. Patient confidentiality is maintained in accordance with HIPAA regulations.
    • Sectioning of archival blocks is conducted in the Histology Laboratory.
    • All protocols requiring human material must have IRB approval and must adhere to HIPAA guidelines. HTB maintains an annually renewable IRB approval allowing for LCCC investigators to use the archived patient material in a de-identified fashion.
    • Permission for tissue retrieval can be granted to investigators after a one-time short application process.
    • All investigators complete a HTB Repository Use Form {link} to utilize HTSR services.
  • Indivumed
    • Indivumed is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, and partnered with Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC) and MedStar Health to establish a state of the art biobanking protocol that provides integrated clinical and molecular database for cancer which will be used for the G-DOC development.
    • Indivumed collects both fresh and paraffin embedded tissues, with matched blood specimens.
    • Of these collected specimens, a portion is available for Institutional investigators and requests for these samples will be subjected to the same peer review outlined above.
    • Special Collections Protocols
    • HTB also provides services for PIs who have special projects requiring tissue procurement for their studies.
    • HTB adheres to the collection procedures provided by the investigators.

Contact: Anju Duttargi, (202) 687-0641 or ad1155@georgetown.edu or Elizabeth Jones ej275@georgetown.edu.

Histology services include:

  • The Histology Laboratory interacts closely with the Human Tissue Bank to provide unstained and stained tissue sections from the appropriately chosen paraffin blocks that fulfill the investigator’s research
  • Tissue fixation and processing for paraffin and frozen tissue blocks
  • Paraffin and frozen tissue microtomy
  • Routine and non-routine histology stains
  • Customized services consultation and advice for fixation and tissue preparation to help meet specific research goals.

Contact: For routine IHC, please contact Supti Sen (ss395@georgetown.edu) or Enoch Adekola (ea753@georgetown.edu). For multiplex IHC, please contact Susree Modepalli (sm3650@georgetown.edu).

The laboratory provides the following services:

  • Two DAKO Autostainers for high throughput immunohistochemical staining
  • A Leica BOND autostainer for multiplex staining
  • Protocol development using new antibodies from commercial vendors or custom antibodies.
  • Optimization of staining intensity and specificity
  • Assisting with interpretation
  • Quantitative analysis of chromogenic staining with Aperio GT450 scanner and quantitative fluorescent immunostaining with Vectra 3

Contact: Susree Modepalli (sm3650@georgetown.edu) or Dylan Kutz (dk1120@georgetown.edu).

The laboratory is equipped with:

  • Dual headed microscopes
  • Aperio GT450: Automated, high capacity digital slide scanner (brightfield only)
  • Vectra 3 Automated Quantitative pathology system
    • Automated whole slide scan and high-resolution ROI imaging
    • InForm: Automated image analysis software

  • Dr. Brent Harris and Dr. Galam Khan are available to review slides with investigators on an individual basis. Appointments can be made via email, please contact Dr. Harris (bth@georgetown.edu) to schedule a consultation.