Resources

The Institutional Tissue Bank (ITB) at MD Anderson performs biobanking activity based on recommendations of National Cancer Institute (NCI) Best Practice for Biospecimen Resources and in compliance with MD Anderson regulations.

Getting Started with the ITB

Step 1: Request for Registration

In order for services to begin, MD Anderson investigators will need to register with ITB by submitting a request for registration form.

Step 2: Consultation 

An initial consultation is an essential step in quality management, to ensure ideal study design and to predict feasibility. Furthermore, feasibility consultation will also ensure that the resources of the facility are being used optimally to meet each investigator's needs, and that overall workload of the facility supports current staffing and facility resources. Tissue Bank employees are available to provide assistance via email or telephone from 7 am to 7 pm, Monday through Friday.

Step 3: BIMS

ITB accepts services requests via MD Anderson Biospecimen Information Management System (BIMS).

BIMS is a comprehensive data base that allows its users to create and store information related to multiple aspects of biospecimen collection, processing, storage, inventory and more. Access to BIMS is limited to MD Anderson employees directly affiliated with Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved protocols that are registered with the ITB. The primary investigator is responsible for identifying such personnel and assigning their roles and privileges within BIMS. All users of BIMS are required to have myID credentials and password to log on. If you do not have a valid myID credentials and password, please contact ITB for guidance.