WRI in Bloom

 As I think about Windber Research Institute (WRI) in bloom this spring, I am reminded of the renewal and regrowth we experienced in 2005.  As our staff and research expanded, we outgrew the facility originally built for ten to fifteen people.

St. Mary's Church

In August 2005, Windber Research Institute moved to the location on the former site of St. Mary's Hungarian Roman Catholic Church. In an effort to honor the support from the Windber community, the arch of St. Mary's Church was preserved and incorporated into the design of the new facility.

Just as WRI has grown over the years, the tissue bank continues to blossom as well.  We have gone from our first batch of samples in 2001 when electronic records were scant, to our current status where electronic records abound…shipping manifests, databases, checklists, reports, automated monitoring, QA… we have it covered.  It is amazing to look back at where we were in our infancy and see how we have grown into a mature biorepository in 2012.  

Windber Research Institute

Just as spring brings new growth after the winter hibernation, exciting opportunities are upon us!  A most encouraging development is our new partnership with the U.S. Military Cancer Institute to handle their biobanking needs.  We recently expanded our tissue bank adding additional space and freezers to accommodate frozen tissue specimens from the U.S. Military Cancer Institute’s research program.  This contract serves as a vote of confidence in our leading edge facility and biobanking team and we are proud to be working with them.