The Liver Tissue and Cell Resource Center (LTCRC)

May 2022 Council

Lead Division/Office

DDN

Point(s) of Contact

Jose Serrano, M.D., Ph.D.

Executive Summary

NIDDK supports clinical research on the diseases of internal medicine and related subspecialty fields as well as many basic science disciplines, including end-stage liver disease. To understand the pathophysiology of the diseases that lead to end-stage liver disease it is essential for researchers to have access to liver tissue and cells from a variety of liver diseases as well as normal livers. These specimens would not be available to researchers who work outside a liver transplant center. Moreover, these specimens are prohibitively expensive on the commercial market. To address the limitation imposed on liver research by the lack of suitable normal and pathologic human liver tissue and cells, NIDDK has supported the procurement and distribution of liver tissue since 1986 and this concept would continue this investment.