Accelerating Research with the NEC Biorepository
Advancing Science to Build a World Without NEC
The NEC biorepository was launched in collaboration with the NEC Society and has brought NEC researchers from across the nation together. We have 8 research centers enrolling, 10 centers approved, and 843 babies enrolled in the NEC biorepository. The goal of the NEC biorepository is to launch research projects that improve our understanding of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and get us closer to a world without NEC.
Background
Multi-Institutional Study across the uS
A biorepository is a research facility that collects and stores biological samples for research. Our biorepository holds samples from numerous medical centers across the country. Researchers share the samples, making it easier to study NEC.
Process
Diverse sample collection for improved research
The biorepository collects samples of blood, stool, urine, saliva, and stomach fluid from babies in the NICU. It also collects breast milk samples from the birthing parent. If a baby in the NICU has intestinal surgery for NEC or any other condition, intestinal tissue that would have otherwise been discarded is saved for the biorepository.
Eligibility
Patient-Family Focused Research
Babies who are in the NICU and have developed NEC, and babies who are the same age as another baby who has developed NEC are eligible to participate in the biorepository. Only babies at NEC Biorepository centers can participate. Every family that contributes by consenting for their baby to participate in the biorepository brings us closer to our vision of a world without NEC.
Building Family-Clinician Collaboration
“The NEC Biorepository was started to build collaboration between scientists across the country. I strongly believe that building a world without NEC requires the dedicated commitment of a community of scientific investigators, families, and clinicians.”
Misty Good, MD, MS & NEC Biorepository Director
Interested in having your center join the NEC biorepository? Email Dr. Good: mistygood@unc.edu
Project Spotlight: Single-Cell Atlas
The biorepository may be used for many scientific research projects. One project underway is the creation of a single-cell atlas of the human neonatal intestine. A single-cell atlas includes detailed information about individual cells and how these cells are different in healthy intestines compared to during NEC. The single-cell atlas will allow us to better understand the mechanisms that regulate important aspects of cellular differentiation, gut development, inflammation, disease progression, and resolution during and after NEC. Understanding the pathways involved in the pathobiology of NEC will shed light on why medically fragile infants are uniquely susceptible to NEC.
The NEC Biorepository is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the NEC Society.
