December 12, 2023 – The AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR), a biorepository of specimens collected from persons living with HIV (PLWH) established in 1994 and funded by the National Institutes of Health
Distributing real-world data to researchers in hours instead of days
SAN FRANCISCO and PHILADELPHIA – December 12, 2023 – The AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR), a biorepository of specimens collected from persons living with HIV (PLWH) established in 1994 and funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, is using software from Proscia®, a leading provider of digital and computational pathology solutions, to encourage scientific exploration and discovery in cancer in PLWH. Concentriq® for Research has enabled the ACSR to provide near real-time access to pathology data to investigators around the world.
The ACSR’s mission is to acquire, store, and equitably distribute biospecimens, including tissue-based pathology data, and associated clinical data from PLWH to the scientific community-at-large. Investigators have leveraged its data to drive the development of new diagnostic and treatment approaches for HIV-associated malignancies. As digital pathology shifts the standard from microscope to high-resolution images, the ACSR recognized an opportunity to improve access to its data and drive further breakthroughs by adopting the technology.
“We are fortunate to have a growing library of rare and valuable biospecimens that have contributed to the fight against cancer in PLWH,” said Dr. Paige Bracci, UCSF Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Director of the ACSR’s Informatics program. “Concentriq for Research has enabled us to quickly realize the benefits of digital pathology and get this real-world data in the hands of more researchers faster. Proscia’s platform is not only making a difference for the scientific community but also for the patients impacted by its work.”
Since selecting Concentriq for Research, the ACSR has reduced the time it takes to provide investigators with pathology data from days to hours. As the enterprise pathology platform facilitates the sharing of images instead of glass slides, the ACSR can transcend geographical barriers and simultaneously share the same datasets so that more research teams can drive scientific advancements. In addition, this approach allows for conservation and increased sustainability of rare and exhaustible tissue specimens to a large number of individual researchers. Concentriq for Research also offers robust annotation and analysis tools to empower investigators in their work.
“We are proud to count the ACSR among the members of the Concentriq community,” said David West, Proscia’s CEO. “It enables breakthrough research with its pathology data and has meaningfully improved access to this critical source of insight with our platform. We look forward to seeing the impact that the ACSR continues to make with enterprise digital pathology.”
Along with today’s news, the ACSR has announced the availability of a rare melanoma tissue repository on Concentriq for Research. A corresponding tissue microarray of these tumor tissues will be available in early 2024.
About The AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource
The AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR) biorepository includes specimens collected from PLWH who have been diagnosed with a wide spectrum of conditions and diseases, particularly cancers, pre and post-HAART. The ACSR’s mission is to acquire, store, and equitably distribute these tissues and biological fluids along with associated clinical data to investigators conducting HIV related research. For more information, visit acsr1.com.
About Proscia
Proscia is a software company accelerating the transformation to digital pathology to change the way we understand diseases like cancer. Its Concentriq enterprise pathology platform and powerful AI applications are advancing the 150-year-old standard of research and diagnosis towards a data-driven discipline, unlocking new insights that accelerate R&D, improve patient outcomes, and fulfill the promise of precision care. Leading diagnostic laboratories and 14 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies rely on Proscia’s software each day. For more information, visit proscia.com.
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