Studying the microbiome using FFPE material
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Using FFPE (formalin fixed paraffin embedded) tissue material to study the microbiome in a range of human diseases.
IRAS ID
187973
Contact name
Clare Skinner
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 10 months, 1 days
Research summary
The microbiome is the term used to describe the bacteria, viruses and fungi that live on and in the human body.
Research studying the microbiome suggests that some diseases are associated with certain microbiome 'signature' patterns. At the moment, research groups study the microbiome using stool or tissue samples collected from patients. This method does not work well for relatively rare diseases as it takes a long time to collect a large enough number of samples. It is for this reason that we would like to study the microbiome using FFPE (formalin fixed paraffin embedded) tissue material.
FFPE material refers to the paraffin blocks that tissue is made into prior to being made into a glass slide for a pathologist to look at using a microscope.
We will use pre-2006 archival samples that have already been used to make microscope slides by the Histopathology Department, St James’ University Hospital, Leeds. This means that patients do not need to be contacted or undergo any further tests for this study. The samples will be link-anonymised.
REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SW/0355
Date of REC Opinion
21 Dec 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion