Access to Biobank Committee (ABC)
To facilitate broad and appropriate use of biobank resources, the biobank has created the Access to Biobank Committee (ABC). The ABC is a dynamic group of University of Colorado faculty, staff, and UCHealth clinicians with broad and diverse research, regulatory and clinical expertise.
Membership of the ABC is comprised of CCPM Leadership, Health Data Compass representatives, regulatory, legal and data experts, and where necessary, investigators with relevant subject expertise to the study proposal request(s). Representation from CCPM and other subject matter experts across the University of Colorado may be invited to the meetings as needed to supplement discussions and decision making.
The ABC has two overarching aims:
- To serve as a consultative body for developing and implementing policies and processes to facilitate access to CCPM Biobank resources (biological specimens, genotyping data, participant health information, and recontact of participants).
- To be the review and decision decision-making body for investigators that have completed a study proposal for biological specimens, recontact of participants, and limited data sets / PHI datasets.
ABC Members
Teresa Frye
Teresa Frye is the Clinical Laboratory Manager of the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine (CCPM) Biobank. She is an ASCP Medical Technologist with extensive experience in Chemistry, Hematology, Microbiology, Blood Banking, Coagulation, Urinalysis, and Molecular Genetics. She has a Master’s in Business Administration with a focus on Health Care Management. Teresa is a native of Colorado and loves to hike, camp, ski, and garden.
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Chris Gignoux
Dr. Gignoux is the Director of Research for CCPM and a statistical and population geneticist by training, with an almost 20-year track record in human genetics both in industry and academia. He evaluates external data proposals and works with the regulatory and operations teams to define standards for approvals, consortium collaborations, and operational processes.
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Brooke Hawkes
Brooke Hawkes is the Project Manager for the Access to Biobank Committee. She has a background in epidemiology and received her MS degree from the University of Arizona in 2022. As part of the ABC, she helps facilitate research requests, runs regular meetings, and assists with fulfilling ABC analysis requests as part of the Translational Informatics Services team.
Kelli Hodge
Kelli Hodge is the Projects Triage Manager for Health Data Compass. She is a data analyst with a background in critical care nursing and healthcare informatics. As part of ABC, Kelli helps facilitate strong collaboration between requestors from the four partner institutes, Health Data Compass’ data warehouse, and the biobank’s critical resources.
Randi Johnson
I work at the intersection of epidemiology and precision medicine, striving to impact population health through equity-minded precision prevention. My lab accomplishes this goal by leveraging high-dimensional -omics data (metabolomics, genetics, DNA methylation, gene expression) from large consortia and population-based studies to elucidate factors contributing to immune and autoimmune disease development and progression.
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Ethan Lange
<In progress>
Leslie Lange
<In progress>
Joe Lesney
<In progress>
Meng Lin
Meng Lin is a Senior Research Instructor at the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine, Department of Biomedical Informatics at CU Anschutz. Meng is affiliated with Chris Gignoux’s research group and is a member of Access to Biobank Committee panel. She received her PhD in Genetics in Stony Brook University, 2017. Meng has a broad research interest regarding complex trait studies in diverse human populations, by leveraging evolutionary, population, and statistical genetics methodology and background in diverse genetic cohorts.
Nick Rafaels
I am the Associate Director of Translational Informatics Services (TIS) within the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine (CCPM) at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. TIS manages the clinical and research pipelines coming from the CCPM Biobank and is responsible for data deliveries on behalf of the ABC. As part of ABC, I make sure requests are feasible and look for ways to enhance our portfolio and increase efficiency.
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Adrian Stewart
My name is Adrian Stewart and as a technical supervisor in the Biobank Laboratory, I’m responsible for maintaining our inventory and preparing specimens for any approved requests for the ABC. I’ve worked in this lab for over 5 years and having done everything from DNA extraction to sample sequencing, I’m typically the “go-to” when specific details and input is required pertaining to our processes. In my free time I enjoy attending concerts at Red Rocks, floating leisurely on my paddleboard, and going backpacking in the mountains.
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Nikita Pozdeyev
I am an endocrinologist and physician informaticist by training interested in improving care for patients with thyroid disease through the use of data, clinical informatics, and machine learning. My research focuses on developing tools for the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer, characterization of germline and somatic variants contributing to the development of thyroid cancer, and identification of novel drug targets and drug combinations for the treatment of advanced thyroid malignancy. As a clinician, I specialize in treating thyroid disease, including nodular goiter and thyroid cancer. In collaboration with the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine (CCPM), we established a cloud repository for CCPM Biobank genetic data (https://hdc-sandbox-bioengine.uw.r.appspot.com/). We implemented informatics pipelines for quality control and imputation of genetic data, genome-wide association studies, and polygenic risk score development. I am a member of the CCPM Access to Biobank Committee and review submitted projects for feasibility and scientific merit.
Contact Us
- For questions pertaining to biobank resource access, contact the ABC – ABC.assist@ucdenver.edu
- For questions pertaining to biobank genetic data analysis, contact TIS – TIS.assist@ucdenver.edu