Our Team
Linda C. Giudice, MD, PhD, Director
Dr. Giudice is responsible for and oversees acquiring, processing, and storing all tissue and blood samples, as well as interface with other groups globally in harmonizing biobanking human endometrial tissue and DNA protocols. She and Dr. Irwin (below) review specimen histology for accuracy of cycle phase, and oversees all issues related to human subjects and Materials Transfer Agreements (MTA) compliance when tissues are distributed to other NCTRI Centers and other investigators and commercial interests, for the latter working closely with UCSF Office of Industry Contracts.
Juan C. Irwin, MD, PhD, Associate Director
Dr. Irwin works with the Tissue Bank Coordinator, Clinical Research Coordinator, and the Director, overseeing specimen collection, blood sample processing, and tissue processing for paraffin sections and H&E staining. He works closely with the tissue bank coordinators to assure proper implementation, workflow, and operation of specimen e-tracking and implements and oversees the Tissue Bank Quality Program that ensures documentation of operations and document control. He also oversees review of protocols and SOPs, staff education and competency evaluation, sample storage monitoring, and trends of critical activities that impact sample quality. He works with the Director to assure compliance with all institutional and regulatory aspects relevant to Tissue Bank operations, including MTAs, Environmental Health and Safety, HIPAA, and IRBs as applicable.
Kim Chi Vo, BS, Tissue Bank Coordinator
In addition to identifying appropriate subjects and obtaining informed consent, the Tissue Bank Coordinator obtains tissue and blood specimens, de-identifies them and populates the Quesgen database fields with de-identified clinical data. She manages all requests for acquisition of samples from NCTRI and other NIH-funded and commercial investigators and coordinates all sample storage/inventory, quality assurance and quality control. She is responsible for insuring that investigators who request samples have the appropriate IRB approval. Additionally, she sends samples to requesting NCTRI participants and confirms adequacy of shipped samples. Following our SOPs, Ms. Vo also processes all incoming samples for storage or distribution in a variety of formats for research.
Past Members
Jacquelyn Hoffman, BA, Clinical Research Coordinator
Ms. Hoffman assists Ms. Vo with consenting and procurement of endometrial tissue and blood specimens from multiple sites and processes them for subsequent use, storage and distribution and staffs the Quesgen database.
Visit the Laboratory of Linda C. Giudice, MD, PhD here.
