The entire biospecimen collection, processing, storage, and transfer operation was coordinated through a central quality control program and uses a custom web portal for data entry. A Pathology Resource Center (PRC), comprised of board-certified pathologists, evaluated the quality of the biospecimens. Figure 2 outlines the biospecimen platform and the flow of biospecimens and data to and from each site within the infrastructure. Detailed SOPs can be found at http://biospecimens.cancer.gov/resources/sops/library.asp that describe tissue procurement, shipping, kit utilization, data entry, pathology review, and other aspects of the GTEx project.
