Rylan Howe

Kathy Newell, professor of pathology at the University of Kansas medical center, checks on a brain in one of three freezers, which contain about 300 human brains, on Monday. The brains have been diagnosed with various neurological and psychiatric diseases and are available for research.

Three deep-freeze units sit at 2014 West in the University of Kansas Medical Center's Wahl Building.

Inside are pieces of about 300 human brains, most of which are stored in plastic bags inside disposable Tupperware. After nine years of almost being forgotten, a program that focuses on collecting brain samples for research is operating again.

The University of Kansas Brain Tissue Bank is run by Larry Carver, professor of psychiatry, and Kathy Newell, professor of pathology. Brain samples are from donors diagnosed with various neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases.

“The importance of this resource to research is unbelievable," Newell said. “There isn’t another in the region.”

Newell, who has done research on Alzheimer's disease, "inherited" part of the collection two and half years ago when she came to the Med Center. Brains with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases formed most of a collection of tissue started by Rajesh Pahwa, professor of neurology, Newell said. Pahwa began the program in 1991.

Because of a lack of funds, the collection sat around unnoticed from 1996 until January 2005. When Carver arrived last year with his personal collection of about 150 brains, the collection rose to nearly 300 brains. Samples in his collection were diagnosed with various psychiatric illnesses, dementia and neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia, depression and multiple sclerosis.

He began collecting the tissue when he did research at Louisiana State University Medical Center.

Carver welcomed donations of any brain with a neurological or psychiatric disease, and the collection grew quickly.

"People will very easily donate brain tissue in their illness because they feel they can still do something for others," he said.

With such an important resource now at the Med Center, both researchers are working to make the University and other local researchers aware of the collection.

There are no other brain banks in the region, Newell said. The closest is in St. Louis.

Though the bank is important for providing tissue for various research projects, insuring the bank's financial security drives the researchers' efforts.

Twelve research papers that use the bank's tissue must be published in medical journals before a grant from the National Institutes of Health can be applied for, Newell said.

Funding for the bank comes from the school of medicine, but it can't cover everything, she said.

Adding to the bank is a costly process.

A donor's brain is removed during his or her autopsy and is cut in half.

One half of the brain has pathological studies conducted on it and is preserved with a compound called formalin, maintaining it in a wet state, which keeps the brain pliable, Newell said.

The other hemisphere is sliced and then frozen for future use by researchers.

Brain donations cost about $650 for all the procedures.

"The last thing we want to do is tell a donator that this is going to cost X amount of dollars to do," she said.

Though diseased tissue is critical for research, she said the need to compare it to a normal brain from a person of around the same age and gender was just as important.

Sometimes getting the healthy brains is harder than getting diseased ones, Carver said.

"It's just hard to get the message out to healthy individuals," he said.

A new grant from a federal source would not only pay for maintenance and donations, but could provide aid to those who wish to use the tissue for research, Newell said.

About $80,000 a year is needed to cover the cost to operate the room.

The figure is based on an estimate from a fellow researcher at Oklahoma State University with a brain bank that the state of Oklahoma gives $70,000 a year to maintain, Newell said.

Awareness of the bank is increasing. A day after a small article ran in the Kansas City Star, Jill Knott, senior project coordinator of the bank, received five phone calls from potential donators.

A researcher from the University of Missouri-Kansas City has also expressed interest in obtaining tissue for his research, Knott, Rochester, N.Y., medical student, said.

Both the formalin-preserved and frozen tissues are available to researchers.

Tissue from most of the brains with Parkinson's disease are not available because Pahwa still uses them for his research, she said.

To request tissue, researchers should contact Knott to discuss use and shipping. Cost will be determined on a case-to-case basis, Knott said.

Carver welcomed donations of any brain with a neurological or psychiatric disease, and the collection grew quickly.

"People will very easily donate brain tissue in their illness because they feel they can still do something for others," he said.

With such an important resource now at the Med Center, both researchers are working to make the University and other local researchers aware of the collection.

There are no other brain banks in the region, Newell said. The closest is in St. Louis.

Though the bank is important for providing tissue for various research projects, insuring the bank's financial security drives the researchers' efforts.

Twelve research papers that use the bank's tissue must be published in medical journals before a grant from the National Institutes of Health can be applied for, Newell said.

Funding for the bank comes from the school of medicine, but it can't cover everything, she said.

Adding to the bank is a costly process. A donor's brain is removed during his or her autopsy and is cut in half.

One half of the brain has pathological studies conducted on it and is preserved with a compound called formalin, maintaining it in a wet state, which keeps the brain pliable, Newell said.

The other hemisphere is sliced and then frozen for future use by researchers.

Brain donations cost about $650 for all the procedures.

"The last thing we want to do is tell a donator that this is going to cost X amount of dollars to do," she said.

Though diseased tissue is critical for research, she said the need to compare it to a normal brain from a person of around the same age and gender was just as important.

Sometimes getting the healthy brains is harder than getting diseased ones, Carver said.

"It's just hard to get the message out to healthy individuals," he said.

A new grant from a federal source would not only pay for maintenance and donations, but could provide aid to those who wish to use the tissue for research, Newell said.

About $80,000 a year is needed to cover the cost to operate the room.

The figure is based on an estimate from a fellow researcher at Oklahoma State University with a brain bank that the state of Oklahoma gives $70,000 a year to maintain, Newell said.

Awareness of the bank is increasing. A day after a small article ran in the Kansas City Star, Jill Knott, senior project coordinator of the bank, received five phone calls from potential donators.

A researcher from the University of Missouri-Kansas City has also expressed interest in obtaining tissue for his research, Knott, Rochester, N.Y., medical student, said.

Both the formalin-preserved and frozen tissues are available to researchers.

Tissue from most of the brains with Parkinson's disease are not available because Pahwa still uses them for his research, she said.

To request tissue, researchers should contact Knott to discuss use and shipping. Cost will be determined on a case-to-case basis, Knott said.