BIOSPECIMEN RESOURCES FOR AGING RESEARCH

RELEASE DATE:  May 8, 2003

NOTICE:  NOT-AG-03-002 

National Institute on Aging (NIA)
 (http://www.nia.nih.gov/)

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) supports longitudinal studies of 
human aging, some of which have developed repositories of biospecimens 
available for sharing.  To facilitate access to human biospecimens and 
foster collaborative research with ongoing studies, the NIA announces a 
new website, the NIA Virtual Repository 
(http://www.nia.nih.gov/ResearchInformation/ScientificResources/Repository.htm).
This website provides a central portal from 
which investigators can access information about human biospecimen 
repositories associated with extramural and intramural studies 
supported by the NIA.  The homepage contains short descriptions of 
participating studies, with links to pages with more in-depth 
descriptions, contact information, and links to study homepages.  
A search engine is provided to assist in finding biospecimen 
collections of interest.

Current studies with human biospecimen repositories accessible through 
the NIA Virtual Repository are the Study of Women's Health Across the 
Nation (SWAN), Health and Body Composition (Health ABC) and the 
Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA).  Additional studies will 
be added as information becomes available.

Non-human biospecimen resources are also available through the NIA.   
The aged rodent tissue bank (http://www.nia.nih.gov/ResearchInformation/Scientific
Resources/AgedRodentTissueBankHandbook/) contains flash-frozen 
tissue from multiple age groups of animals in the NIA aged rodent 
colonies.  Currently, the aged rodent tissue bank contains tissue from 
F344 and F344BN F1 hybrid rats and C57BL/6 mice, and from age-matched 
caloric-restricted and ad lib-fed control F344 rats and BALB/c mice.  

Non-human primate biospecimens are available through the Obesity, 
Diabetes, and Aging Animal Resource (ODAAR), which supports a colony of 
aged, obese and/or diabetic rhesus monkeys and an associated 
biospecimen repository.  For information, contact Dr. Barbara C. 
Hansen, bchansen@aol.com.

Direct inquiries regarding NIA Research Resources to:

Nancy L. Nadon, Ph.D.
Head, Office of Biological Resources and Resource Development
Biology of Aging Program
National Institute on Aging
Telephone: 301-402-7744
Email: nadonn@nia.nih.gov


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