Biospecimen Processing Lab

Rates and Invoicing (iLab)

The Biospecimen Processing Lab (BSPL) utilizes the following approved recharge rates:

* We apologize for the inconvenience, but the following services are currently not offered: RNA/DNA extraction and specimen concierge.

Oyster Point Freezer Farm rates:

A full breakdown of all services offered by the Biospecimen Processing Lab is included in the table below:

Biofluid Processing: Amniotic Fluid, CSF, Urine, Saliva + Serum or Plasma Processing

Routine centrifugation of bio-fluids with aliquoting of supernatant and cell pellet isolation. Up to 10 aliquots.

Additional Charges:

  • Double spins, extra steps, or requested additives built into the processing protocol will instead be charged “Additional prep step” (see below).

Additional Prep Step  

  • Applied when additional steps requested in the protocol, such as additional centrifugation, wash, or preparation.
  • Routine centrifugation with 11 aliquots or more.
    • “Custom processing” charge may apply for steps deviating significantly from a routine biofluid processing SOP.

PBMC Processing  

Includes isolated PBMCs and associated plasma processed utilizing the BSPL PBMC SOP. 

  • Additional charges apply if greater than 40mL of blood is provided; ex. the PBMC Processing rate will be charged twice for 80mL of whole blood.
  • Additional charges apply for steps deviating significantly from the BSPL PBMC SOP.

Aliquoting Only 

Transfer of unprocessed blood or bio-fluids into storage tubes (cryovials etc). No other processing.

Send out only

Accessioning and preparation of sample for shipment. No other processing.

Shipment, ambient or cold

  • Shipment at ambient, refrigerated and/or frozen temperatures.
  • Dry ice is included for frozen shipments.
  • Shipping supplies and courier costs not included.

After-hours sample processing

  • After business hours Monday – Friday.
  • Routine centrifugation of bio-fluids.
  • Subject to BSPL SRA availability.

Surgical Collection

Complex Surgical Collection charge:
A BSPL PA coordinates with the operating room team and surgical pathology department to collect tissue from surgical procedures. The PA's are trained to dissect complex specimens according to surgical pathology guidelines so that clinical evaluation of the specimens are not impacted and research tissue can be obtained fresh. Tissue will be prepared for storage or downstream assays according to requestors specifications or via BSPL protocols. 

 

Simple Surgical Collection charge:
A BSPL PA coordinates with the operating room team and surgical pathology department to collect simple specimens from surgical procedures that require no gross manipulation by the PA. The PA's are trained to determine fragments of tissue that are in excess of what is needed for pathology so that clinical evaluation of the specimens are not impacted. Tissue will be prepared for storage or downstream assays according to requestors specifications or via the BSPL protocols. 

Includes:

  • Coordination with the operating room and rapid collection of specimen
  • Dissection and procurement of research tissue
  • Sample hand-off and intercampus courier services

Additional Charges:

  • External shipping
  • Blood processing
  • Long-term storage of specimens 
  • Tissue Preparation Kit

Biopsy Collection

Biopsy Collection charge:
A BSPL member attends biopsy procedure and coordinates with research and clinical teams to collect specified type and quantity of material required for study.  Tissue is collected and preserved in the procedure room to ensure viability.  

Includes:

  • Coordination and collection of biopsy tissue from clinical unit

 

Biopsy Processing Only charge:
Overnight fixation and transfer of biopsy tissue to ethanol.

Additional Charges:

  • External shipping
  • Blood processing 
  • Tissue Preparation Kit (if no kit is provided) 
  • FFPE block generation

Tissue Preparation – FFPE block

All FFPE blocks generated by histology are subject to an additional charge at the rate set by the clinical histology department.

Tissue Preparation Set

Add-on charge for surgical tissue and biopsy collections when BSPL provides tubes, media, OCT molds, etc.

After-hours surgical collection

  • Collection of surgical tissue after 5:30pm Monday - Friday.
  • Subject to BSPL PA availability.

Onsite Storage Services (formerly Short-Term Storage)

Samples are stored onsite at the BSPL location where they were processed. Samples can be rapidly accessed by our team for priority distribution. Onsite storage is charged per sample, per month.

*Choice of storage service will be confirmed at study start-up. Samples will default to onsite storage unless biobank storage is specifically requested by the investigator.

Biobank Storage (formerly Long-Term Storage)

Samples are stored at the Mt. Zion Freezer Farm with a plan to keep them for a minimum of time measured in years. Access to samples is by a “sample pull” request submitted through iLab and is fulfilled in the order received. Current turnaround time for distribution is approximately one month, depending on staffing and volume of requests. Storage at -80C or in liquid nitrogen available. Biobank storage is charged per cryobox, per month.

*Choice of storage service will be confirmed at study start-up. Samples will default to onsite storage unless biobank storage is specifically requested by the investigator.

Sample Pull Requests  

Sample pull requests are billed at our “Lab tech time” for time spent pulling samples from inventory, manifesting, and packing up samples for distribution. Pull requests are submitted through iLab.

Includes:

  • Sample hand-off and intercampus courier services
  • Manifest generation and database updates

Additional Charges:

  • External shipping
  • On-demand courier

New Protocol Support Request

Three and a half hours of staff time to review lab manuals, build out MBioLIMs database, and train staff on protocol. Required charge for starting up all new studies.

All services are invoiced monthly through the iLab system.