OCRI Explores Biorepository Collaboration with Erie County Medical Center

On February 1, Dr. Jennifer Frustino visited Boston University and met with OCRI researchers to explore biospecimen repository collaboration opportunities. Dr. Frustino is the Director of Oral Cancer Screening and Diagnostics in the Division of Oral Oncology and Maxillofacial Prosthetics at Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo, NY. Previously, she worked at the nearby Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Erie County Medical Center recently established an Oral Cancer Screening Program, and is collecting biopsies, buccal cells, and microbiota. Dr. Frustino and her colleagues are collecting many biospecimens from their diverse patient group and have been looking for a collaborative partner with the infrastructure to analyze the collected samples. After initial talks with Dr. Maria Kukuruzinska, Associate Dean for Research at GSDM, Dr. Frustino scheduled a visit to explore the opportunity for Boston University to collaborate with Erie County Medical Center on this important project. This collaboration will specifically focus on identifying genomic signatures in oral potentially malignant disorders and cancer.

During her visit, Dr. Frustino presented to members of the Etiology & Pathogenesis of Oral Cancer (EPOC) ARC and other interested faculty on A Biorepository and Database for Identifying Biomarkers for Oral Cancer: Accomplishments and Future Directions. In her presentation, Dr. Frustino discussed the background of the biorepository as well as how the biorepository may facilitate future research.

Dr. Frustino also had individual meetings with a number of faculty members to discuss their research interests and opportunities in the biospecimen analysis process. There was a high level of interest from faculty in the collaboration, and over half a dozen Boston University researchers will be participating in the collaboration going forward.

“We’re excited about this new collaboration with Dr. Frustino,” said Dr. Maria Kukuruzinska. “The analysis of these samples will benefit both Erie County Medical Center and Boston University, and will be invaluable to our research on head and neck cancer. We look forward to a long and productive collaboration.”