Hematology Biobank: In Vitro Study of Blood Disorders

There has been a marked increase in our knowledge of Blood Disorders in the last decade. Much of this knowledge comes from examining blood specimens from patients and subjecting these samples to red cell, plasma, serum or DNA analyses. The study team proposes to set up a Hematology biobank, which will include patient histories, their medical progress and a linked but de-identified bank of blood samples. This will enable researchers to have a large database, which can be used to learn more about these diseases. The Hematology biobank will use whole blood, red blood cells, plasma, serum and/or DNA. Whole blood specimens, which by definition include the white cells that contain DNA, will be collected and stored in the biobank repository at the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) for future studies. Blood samples will be obtained from two sources: 1. Leftover/discarded whole blood samples that were obtained for standard of care. 2. Blood samples consisting of 1-5 tubes (3-20 ml of whole blood) from patients with written consent. When possible, these samples will be obtained during routine blood draws performed for a typical visit. It may be necessary to ask patients to specifically donate blood for the study.