Prof. Wolf Participates in Institute of Medicine Committee's Biorepository Report

Professor Susan Wolf, an elected member of the National Academies' Institute of Medicine (IOM), serves on an IOM committee that has issued recommendations for the world's largest tissue repository, "Future Uses of the Department of Defense Joint Pathology Center Biorepository." This collection of over 7 million tissue specimens has its origin in the Civil War with the creation of the Army Medical Museum, later the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP). Specimens in the collection have played a key role in pathology and biomedicine, including decoding the genetic sequence of the 1918 influenza virus, determining that aspirin given to children can cause Reyes' Syndrome, and developing more effective body armor for U.S. troops. The committee's report "proposes a series of protocols, standards, safeguards, and guidelines that could help to ensure that this national treasure continues to be available to researchers in the years to come, while protecting the privacy of the people who provided the materials and maintaining the security of their personal information." The report has significant implications for biorepositories around the world.