We handle and process tissue specimens to meet a range of diagnostic and research needs.
The Tissue-Based Diagnosis and Research Core at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital offers a range of reference and research services, including routine and customized design, planning, handling, processing, and preparation of diagnostic grade Histopathology and Cytology derivatives.
We collaborate with researchers from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds within our own institution and for outside referral services. We handle tissue specimens derived from basic research studies and clinical remnants from the Johns Hopkins All Children's Anatomic Pathology division. We operate with the highest standards of Research Operations for proper Institutional Review Board-approved handling, deidentification and allocation for research applications. We apply and develop processes according to well established diagnostic and precision medicine grade techniques.
Our services are available for all researchers within our health system and other academic institutions. The Tissue Core also has established a collaborative relationship with The Reference Histology Laboratory and The Oncology Tissue Services at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore for additional expertise and technology.
Our Services
We accept fresh, frozen, formalin fixed and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens from human or animal case material and research tissue specimens in support of diagnostic or research applications.
We offer instruction in diagnostic pathology methods for specimen procurement, optimization of fixation and specimen handling, and provide training in cryostat and paraffin specimen microtomy on the user’s own equipment or in the Shared Resources core.
Our services include:
- Human and animal tissue processing
- Frozen tissue and OCT embedded - Frozen sectioning
- Tissue and cell derivative preparation and aliquoting
- FFPE processing
- FFPE microtomy
- Routine H&E staining
- Special stains
- Immunohistochemistry
- Fluorescence in-situ hybridization
- Transmission electron microscopy processing and sectioning
Our Technology
The Johns Hopkins All Children’s Tissue Core is equipped with high-quality instrumentation, including:
- Leica Bond RX Fully Automated Research Stainer
- Artisan Link Pro Automated Special Stainer
- Leica H&E Autostainer and glass coverslipper
- Leica tissue processor
- Leica embedding center
- Leica microtomes
- Sakura Cryo3 Flex Cryostat
Request Services
If you would like to request Tissue Core services (both internal and external clients), please download and fill out this form, and we will follow up with you to provide a quote for services and finalize your request. Once complete, please email the form to [email protected], and we will follow up with you to provide a quote for services and finalize your request.
Meet Our Team
Hector Monforte, MD
Dr. Monforte is the section chief of Anatomic Pathology and also supports the research mission of Johns Hopkins All Children’s by serving as director of the Tissue-Based Diagnosis and Research Core and the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Pediatric Biorepository. He earned his medical degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara School of Medicine in Mexico. He completed his anatomic pathology residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, and fellowships at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
View Hector Monforte’s Bio
Diana Skapura, B.S., HTL(ASCP)CM
Diana Skapura joined the Tissue-Based Diagnosis and Research Core in 2019 after serving as a histotechnologist II at Largo Medical Center for over a year. She has worked in research for 25 years, with 15 years of experience in histology.
She joined Johns Hopkins All Children’s in 1999 as a medical technologist in the immunoparameters laboratory. In 2001, she transferred to the Molecular Genetics Lab of Gary Litman, Ph.D., as a laboratory coordinator. In this lab utilizing multiple species, she was doing histology and sequencing on multiple platforms, as well as additional molecular techniques. She then joined the Molecular Determinants Core lab of David Graham, Ph.D., where she processed samples for HPLC and mass spectrometry analysis, and assisted in getting the new lab equipped.
Before joining the hospital, she was a staff biologist with Mote Marine Laboratory. She contributed to improving techniques for culturing larval fish, by evaluating egg quality and dose response for hormone induction of ovulation.
She earned her Bachelor of Science in zoology from the University of South Florida, and earned her certification in histotechnology in 2018. She is certified by ASCP and licensed by the state of Florida as a histotechnologist. She also holds a licensure in serology. She has authorship on posters, presentations, and publications.
