Human Biorepository Tissue Bank

The Stanford Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery's Human Biorepository Tissue Bank directs and maintains an extensive collection of over 6,000 human cardiothoracic tissue samples obtained from consented patients. The purpose of our tissue bank is to create a comprehensive biorepository resource and have it available for approved studies to advance cardiovascular and pulmonary disease research and discoveries. We have collaborated with more than 30 collaborators and Stanford labs. Our goal is to promote research by providing cardiothoracic tissue samples to researchers and scientists across Stanford Medicine.

Our Services

The Human Biorepository Tissue Bank was established in January 2015 and has a team of laboratory assistants who cover tissue collection 24/7 and create protocols in place to aid in sharing tissue with collaborators. We collect discarded tissue from elective cardiac cases, including valve leaflets, atrial tissue, aortic tissue, and more. We also collect, dissect, and store samples from explanted hearts and lungs from transplants. Commonly collected tissue includes but is not limited to:

• Patient consent, photo & video footage (when requested)
• Valve leaflets
• Aortic valve
• Mitral valve
• Pulmonary valve
• Tricuspid valve
• Aorta/aortic root
• Coronary arteries (LAD, RCA, LCX)
• Left and right ventricle
• Left and right atria
• Septum
• Bronchi and tissue from all lobes of the lungs
• Blood

Our Mission

Cardiovascular disease is a worldwide health problem and the leading cause of death in the United States. Pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affect more than 15 million Americans. Discoveries and research on heart and lung tissue can lead to future discoveries and studies to find better treatments and care for our patients with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases.

At the end of a surgery, remaining tissue would generally be sent to pathology (when indicated) and/or discarded. Most explanted organs would be sent to pathology, and the remainder be disposed of by pathology. We wanted to do more with this valuable tissue.

The Human Biorepository Tissue Bank has the ability to collect all explanted tissue and organs and provide researchers access to this resource. This saves collaborators time and effort from having to obtain samples directly from the operating room, which is especially challenging to coordinate for organ transplants as they often happen at irregular hours with little notice. Through new collaborations, we seek to support you and your team’s research and build bridges to new and exciting projects for the future. We are always looking for more collaborators who may be interested in acquiring tissue samples.

Request Samples

Getting Started with the IRB:

If you/your lab are interested in obtaining tissue samples, please reach out to the CT Surgery BioBank team (contact info below).

Include the following details in your request:

1. Brief description of your study

2. Specific type(s) of samples you need, type of patients you want tissue from, how you need them stored, etc.

3. IRB number of your project (*Note: An approved IRB will be required for all collaborators before requesting access to our sample collection)

4. All collaborators and their researchers must have completed CITI training (please indicate your CITI training status and expiration date)

5. We will need to add your name and any researchers on your team to our CT Surgery BioBank IRB, before providing samples. Please provide the name(s) and contact for all participants.

** NOTE: WE are able to share tissue samples with anyone within Stanford University, Hospital and Stanford Clinics and Children Hospital. We cannot share any tissue samples with anyone outside of our institution.

After the IRB process is completed:

After a sample is collected, we offer storage in your preferred media, including:

- PBS on ice

- Snap frozen in liquid nitrogen

- Fixed in a cryomold with OCT

- Other specific or unique media upon request

Once your samples are prepared, we will coordinate a convenient pick-up or drop-off time and location with you.

Provider Resources

A human biorepository tissue bank is a facility that collects, stores, and distributes human tissue samples for research purposes. To ensure that the tissues are collected and stored ethically and legally, there is a consent process that must be followed.

Our physicians and providers (APPs, residents, fellows, clinical instructors) and lab research assistants are able to consent patients who are interested in being a part of our human biorepository tissue bank, the following steps are typically involved:

Our Stanford Human Biorepository Tissue Bank is approved through the Institutional Review Board (IRB): We have maintained IRB protocol and consent approval since 2015, via Stanford IRB. The IRB is responsible for ensuring that the collection and storage of human tissues are conducted in accordance with ethical principles and regulations.
Obtain Informed Consent: Patients who are willing to donate their tissue samples must provide informed consent. This means that they must be fully informed about the purpose of the tissue collection, how the tissues will be used, and the risks and benefits associated with the donation. This consent is maintained via HIPAA compliance EMR and consents are stored long term in HPI facilities.
Collect Tissue Samples: Once the patient has provided informed consent, the tissue samples can be collected. The samples may be collected during surgery, biopsy, or other medical procedures.
Store Tissue Samples: The tissue samples are then stored in the biorepository tissue bank under appropriate conditions to ensure their integrity.
Distribute Tissue Samples: Researchers who are interested in using the tissue samples for research purposes can request access to the samples. The biorepository tissue bank will distribute the samples after reviewing the research proposal and ensuring that all appropriate ethical and legal requirements have been met.

Providers can find supporting files in the “BOX Tissue Bank Folder” including:

Current IRB consent form
Patient/Provider Q & A Document
Short supplemental video of Q & A from our tissue bank research team

BOX Tissue Bank IRB consent

(SUNet ID required. Please contact Mary Sheridan Bilbao for access)

Lab Assistant Roles

The role and responsibilities of the CT Surgery BioBank Tissue collector team is:

Assisting in consenting of patients, maintaining IRB protocol and updates, collection of human tissue intra-operatively and proper preparation and storage of tissue. Accurate and proper maintenance and updating of PHI into official tissue database (Redcap). Collection team can add researcher/collaborators onto PHI database for research team to search for desired patients and PMH. In some cases, tissue collectors can aid in finding basic patient information including; patient name, medical history search, consented patients, etc. Should a deep dive needed to be conducted, this is the responsibility of the researcher (not the tissue collector or team). Should a researcher need more information or assistance with their research, the tissue collector will need proper inclusion onto final publication/paper as an author or contributor.

Publication Information and Citation Language

We kindly request that when publishing papers, researchers include the CT surgery faculty and/or staff/tissue collectors who are part of the CT Surgery biobank team, either as contributing authors or in the acknowledgment section.

Recognizing our efforts through citations in your paper helps highlight their diligent work in obtaining tissue samples, benefiting their future career goals—whether advancing in medical school or research.

This acknowledgment also supports our biobank's continued growth and its contributions to future research efforts in CT Surgery. Thank you for considering the contributions of our biobank team.

The following is an example template that can be used for citation for publications/papers:

APA Reference citation for research papers:

Boyd, J. MD, & Bilbao, M. PA-C. (est. 2015). Stanford Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery Human Biorepository Tissue Bank [Cardiothoracic tissue (or state specific tissue used)]. Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA. Retrieved from https://med.stanford.edu/ctsurgery/research/ct-surgery-human-biorepository-tissue-bank.html

In-text citation:
(Boyd & Bilbao, est. 2015)

Additional naming within authors:

Please consider the additional recognition of our faculty or research team members within the
citation statement/your paper for their diligent work in obtaining tissue samples. This assists in
both recognition and their future career aspirations.

Our Team, Contact Info, and Open Positions

For inquiries, please contact any of the below lab members
or email our team at ctsurgerybiobank@stanford.edu for more information

Dr. Jack Boyd

Principal Investigator
Member since 2015

Adriana Carter

Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator
Member since 2024

Mary Sheridan Bilbao

Co-Principal Investigator
Member since 2015

Open Positions

No open positions at this time

Tissue Collector Alumni

Past lab members have left the lab to begin medical school, graduate school, law school and further clinical and research positions.

Name	Years in Role	Current Position
Claire DaValle	(2024-2025)	Medical School Student
Lasemahang (Lasu) Limbu	(2022-2024)	Stanford CT Surgery Clinical Research Coordinator
Angela Kabiri	(2020-2024)	Law School Student
Spencer Bonham	(2020-2022)	Medical School Student
Samantha Churovich	(2019-2020)	Stanford University Graduate, Human Biology
Tiffany Koyano	(2017-2023)	Stanford CT Surgery Clinical Research Coordinator
Robyn Fong	(2017-2019)	Stanford CT Surgery, Hiesinger Lab Manager
Zane Hellmann	(2015-2016)	Medical School Student & Residency Program

Current Collaborators

BioBank tissue used for research

Publications, Research, Awards, and Grants

Euan Ashley Lab

Dr. Euan Ashley

Roger and Joelle Burnell Professor of Genomics and Precision Health

LV tissue

Publications pending

Dr. Marina Gabriel

Postdoctoral Scientist (CV Medicine)

Rani Agrawal

Lab Researcher and Lab Manager

Althea Tapales

4th Year Medical Student

Shriya Reddy

Stanford Bio-X Undergrad

Kevin Alexander Lab

Dr. Kevin Alexander

Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine)

amyloid heart transplants

Publications pending

Jack Boyd Research

Dr. Jack Boyd

Clinical Associate Professor

CABG: Saphenous Vein, Radial Artery, LIMA

Publications pending

Ian Chen Research

Dr. Ian Chen

Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular) and of Radiology (Veterans Affairs)

aortic valve

Publications pending

Paul Cheng Research

Dr. Paul Cheng

Instructor, Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University

LIMA, coronary artery

Title: A cell and transcriptome atlas of the human arterial vasculature reveals roles of developmental master regulators in health and disease

Tushar Desai Lab

Dr. Matthew McCarra

Instructor, Medicine (Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care Medicine)

IPF Lungs

Publications pending

Michael Fischbein Lab

Stanford Thoracic Aortic Research Lab

Dr. Michael Fischbein

Thelma and Henry Doelger Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery

Dr. Jennifer Kim

Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident

Aorta

Publications pending

Brandon Guenthart Lab

Dr. Brandon Guenthart

Clinical Assistant Professor

Lung transplant and heart transplant tissue

Publications pending

William Hiesinger Lab

Dr. William Hiesinger

Assistant Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery (Adult Cardiac Surgery)

Tricuspid Valve

Publications pending

Joe Hsu Lab

Dr. Joe Le Hsu

Assistant Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care)

IPF tissue

Publications pending

Ioannis Karakikes Lab

Dr. Ioannis Karakikes

Associate Professor (Research)

Left ventricle, right ventricle, septum, as well as LA and RA if available

Publications pending

Anson Lee Lab

Cardiac Surgical Arrhythmia Research Laboratory

Dr. Anson Lee

Assistant Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery (Adult Cardiac Surgery)

LA, L.A.A/RA, R.A.A tissue

Publications pending

Patricia Nguyen Research

Dr. Patricia Nguyen

Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine)

LAD & RCA coronary artery & Blood

Publications pending

Thomas Quertermous Lab

Dr. Thomas Quertermous

William G. Irwin Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine

coronary arteries, pulmonary and aortic valves and aortic root, left and right ventricles

Publications pending

Trieu Nguyen

Life Science Research Professional and Lab Manager

Dr. Paul Cheng

Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine)

Dr. Joao Pinho Monteiro

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. Daniel Li

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Sushma Reddy Research

Dr. Sushma Reddy

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Cardiology)

Blood and RV tissue

Publications pending

Yashuhiro Shudo Lab

Stanford Translational Heart Failure Research Laboratory

Dr. Yasuhiro Shudo

Clinical Associate Professor

LV muscle apical core from Heart transplant recipient

1) ISHLT/O.H. Frazier Award in MCS Translational Research, The International Society of Heart & Lung Transplantation (2017).

2) Comprehensive Analysis of Differential Expressed Genes Related with Myocardial Reverse Remodeling Following HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device Implantations

Left Atrium from Donor’s heart

Currently applying for grant as collaborator under possible international collaborative work project

Edda Spiekerkoetter Lab

Dr. Edda Spiekerkoetter

Associate Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine)

Whole heart

Publications pending

Whole heart

3D Imaging Reveals Complex Microvascular Remodeling in the Right Ventricle in Pulmonary Hypertension.

Joseph Woo Lab

Stanford Advanced Therapeutics for Heart Failure Research Laboratory

Dr. Joseph Woo

Chair & Norman E. Shumway Professor and, by courtesy, of Bioengineering

LV Tissue

Publications pending

Joseph Wu Lab

Dr. Joseph Wu

Director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and the Simon H. Stertzer, MD, Professor of Medicine and Radiology

non-ischemic cardiomyopathy tissue	Publications pending
ascending aorta in O.C.T	Publications pending

Dr. Ana Kojic

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Zehra Yildirim

Postdoctoral Fellow

LV myocardium

Publications pending

Dr. Francesca Vacante

Postdoctoral Scholar

LV, coronary artery

Publications pending

Dr. Nazish Sayed

Assistant Professor (Research) of Surgery (Vascular Surgery) and at the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute

LV, RV, RA, LA, Septum, pulm valv

Publications pending

Completed Tissue Collection & Research

Ian Chen Research

Dr. Ian Chen

Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular) and of Radiology (Veterans Affairs)

LA	Publications pending

Paul Cheng Research

Dr. Paul Cheng

Instructor, Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University

RCA coronary artery

Publications pending

Tushar Desai Lab

Dr. Tushar Desai

Associate Professor of Medicine; Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care Medicine and Stem Cell Institute

Dr. Jung-Ki Yoon

Postdoctoral Scholar, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine

Lung transplant tissue

Publications pending, 2022

Edda Spiekerkoetter Lab

Dr. Edda Spiekerkoetter

Associate Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine)

Dr. Kenzo Ichimura

Postdoctoral Scholar, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine

RV, Septum and LV tissue from patients with pulmonary hypertension harvested at time of Heart-Lung Transplantation.

RV, Septum and LV tissue from patients at time of heart transplantation with normal RV on echo as controls.

R01HL158868-01 (PI: Spiekerkoetter) 7/1/2021 – 6/20/2025 NIH-NHLBI Understanding and targeting molecular as well as structural events governing right ventricular adaptation, failure and recovery in pulmonary hypertension using repurposed drugs

Postdoctoral Award - Nr 903768 (PI:Ichimura) - 1/1/2022 – 12/31/2023

American Heart Association
Characterizing and Improving the Microvascular-Cardiomyocyte Interphase in Pressure-Overloaded Right Heart Failure

RV, LV, and septal wall from heart transplantation recipients

(1) NIH/NHLBI 1R01HL158868- 01: Understanding and targeting molecular as well as structural events governing right ventricular adaptation, failure and recovery in pulmonary hypertension using repurposed drugs. PI: Edda Spiekerkoetter

(2) AHA postdoctoral fellowship: Characterizing and Improving the Microvascular-Cardiomyocyte Interphase in Pressure-Overloaded Right Heart Failure. PI: Kenzo Ichimura

Publications pending, 2022

Joseph Wu Lab

Dr. Francesca Vacante

Postdoctoral Scholar

Aorta, Lung tissue

Publications pending