Specimen Banking

AIDS Specimen Bank Core

The UCSF-Gladstone CFAR Specimen Bank Core has since 1987 provided expertise and an infrastructure for the collection, processing and storage of biospecimens for CFAR.

The Specimen Bank Core has provided repository services to many cohorts and clinical studies based in San Francisco, including the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), Biology of HIV Transmission (Options Cohort), Staying Well (Clinical trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction and education groups for HIV), and SFGH Observational Cohort Evaluating Long-Term Consequences of Virologic Failure (SCOPE).

Specific Aims

  • Support the biorepository needs of CFAR investigators by expert specimen processing, data management, and short- and long-term storage of biospecimens.
  • Advance HIV research by providing training and consultation to faculty and staff requesting advice on specimen collection, processing, storage, and shipping.
  • Invest in new methods to improve the viability of specimens through better processing and storage and expand the type of specimens preserved based on an ongoing needs assessment of UCSF-Gladstone CFAR investigators.