Children's Brain Tumor Tissue Consortium Announces Addition Of Two New Satellite Member Institutions In China

PHILADELPHIA, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Children's Brain Tumor Tissue Consortium (CBTTC) has announced the addition of two new satellite member institutions located in China.   

The addition of The Beijing Tiantan Hospital Neurosurgery Center (BTHNC), located in Beijing and The China National GeneBank (CNGB), established by BGI in Shenzhen, increases the total membership of the CBTTC to 15 core and satellite member institutions located throughout Europe, Asia and the United States. 

CNBG/BGI and the BTHNC have agreed to contribute genomic data collected from specimens of extracted pediatric brain tumor tissue, which will be uploaded into CAVATICA, a cloud-based platform developed by the CBTTC for collaboratively accessing, sharing and analyzing pediatric cancer data. In addition, BGI and CNBG will lead the recruitment of additional Chinese hospitals and will coordinate the execution of the CBTTC's protocols from sample collection to big data analysis and clinical treatment, for CBTTC member sites in China.

"The new CBTTC member sites at Beijing Tiantan Hospital Neurosurgery Center and the China National GeneBank represent a giant leap forward in the collaborative, global effort to find cures and better treatments for pediatric cancer," said Adam Resnick, PhD, Scientific Chair of the CBTTC.

"The China National GeneBank is proud to join CBTTC," said Xun Xu, Ph.D., Director of BGI Research and Executive Director of China National GeneBank. "We are looking forward to contributing our big data, genomic research capabilities and network of health care providers to advance the important work of the consortium in improving the outcomes and quality of life for pediatric brain cancer patients."

About Beijing Tiantan Hospital Neurosurgery Center

BTHNC joins the CBTTC as the largest and most-renowned neurosurgical and center in China. Founded by Dr. Wang Chungcheng, a pioneer of neurosurgery in China in the early 1980s, Beijing Tiantan Hospital Neurosurgery Center provides a full range of adult and pediatric neurological surgery specialty services and performs more than 7,000 brain surgeries per year.

About BGI and the China National GeneBank

BGI was established in 1999 as Beijing Genomics Institute to participate in the original Human Genome Project. Since then, BGI has grown in to one of the world's largest genomics organizations, experienced in genomic research, commercial NGS services and sequencer manufacturing. BGI, now headquartered in Shenzhen, is committed to improving human health and enabling large-scale plant and animal genomics research by providing solutions for research, pharmaceutical, and clinical markets.

Built and operated by BGI-Shenzhen, the China National GeneBank (CNGB) is the first national gene bank integrating a large-scale bio-repository and an omics database. It was established by the Chinese government, with the mission of collecting, preserving and exploiting genomics resources, and to build a network fostering global communication and collaboration on biodiversity conservation and genetic resources utilization. In addition, CNGB is supported by BGI's high-throughput sequencing and bio-informatics capacity, and it will not only provide a repository system for biological collection, but more importantly develop a novel platform to further understand genomic mechanisms of life. Visit www.bgi.com and www.cngb.org.

About the Children's Brain Tumor Tissue Consortium
The Children's Brain Tumor Tissue Consortium is a multi-institutional, collaborative research partnership dedicated to improving treatments and outcomes for children diagnosed with brain tumors.  The nucleus of the CBTTC is a state-of-the-art biorepository and informatics portal, which allows researchers from all over the world to access high-quality genomic and clinical tumor data. The CBTTC is currently composed of 15 member institutions from around the world. For more information, visit cbttc.org.

Contact: Adam Resnick, PhD, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, resnick@email.chop.edu, 301-728-4653

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SOURCE Children’s Brain Tumor Tissue Consortium (CBTTC)