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Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Nervous System Tumor Bank

For Investigators

The Nervous System Tumor Bank (NSTB) team strives to provide investigators with high-quality biospecimens. We will work with you to identify and build a cohort that suits your unique project’s needs, goals and research question. The NSTB collects blood and tissue specimens from a wide variety of central nervous system tumors.

Available services include data acquisition and specimen collection. NSTB also offers a number of histology services. Please email the NSTB team for current availability of biospecimens.

Authorship Agreement

The effort required to obtain, catalog, and distribute Northwestern University Nervous System Tumor Bank (NSTB) biospecimens and data is quite substantial. We are willing and excited to share this resource to advance scientific inquiry. We ask to recognize our multi-departmental team members involved in these efforts. The inclusion of the relevant authors will be determined by the Oversight Committee based on the specifics of the utilization request. Individual authors will retain the right to accept or refuse authorship.

How to Submit a Request

Biospecimen Requests

To submit a request for research specimens, please complete the NSTB request form and submit it through the NSTB Disburser website. For non-Northwestern scientists, please email the form to nervous.system.tumor.bank@northwestern.edu. Requests are reviewed monthly at the NSTB committee meeting. The NSTB works with NUCore for the billing of our items and services.

Data Access & Data Queries

The NSTB has established an online database to document the growing tissue collection utilizing REDCap. Efforts to link de-identified clinical data to biospecimens are ongoing. Access to this database can be requested through email to the NSTB research team. Access is only available to Northwestern investigators.

Acknowledging the NSTB

All publications produced with assistance from the NSTB must include the following statement in the Acknowledgements section: “The Northwestern Nervous System Tumor Bank is supported by the P50CA221747 SPORE for Translational Approaches to Brain Cancer.”