The BWH/Harvard Cohorts Biorepository houses more than 3.2 million biological specimens from more than 200,000 participants in several prestigious cohort studies:
- Nurses’ Health Studies
- Health Professionals Follow-up Study
- Physicians’ Health Study
- Growing Up Today Studies
Sample types include plasma, white blood cells, red blood cells, whole blood, urine, DNA, toenails, hair, stool, saliva, archival tumor tissue, and mammography images.
These samples are an extremely valuable and finite resource. The goal of the Biorepository is to maximize the use of samples in ways that are cost-effective, ethical, and state-of-the-art.
All specimen research results are reported to the biorepository and linked to remaining aliquots over time, resulting in specimen collections rich with more than 30 years of investigational and reported data.
We welcome new collaborations and strive to make their establishment as simple and transparent as possible while maximizing their scientific yield.