A novel biospecimen collection platform was needed to address the many unique aspects of the GTEx project. Most established tissue networks do not contain a large number of normal, non-disease biospecimens, but instead have a collection of retrospective disease or condition-specific biospecimens, frequently with limited annotation available. BBRB met the GTEx pilot requirements by creating the infrastructure described here for the acquisition of normal biospecimens through contractual relationships with OPOs and rapid autopsy programs.
