The Alabama Brain Collection (ABC) is managed by the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology as a resource to promote brain tissue research. We encourage neuroscientists, neurologists, and psychiatrists to become collaborators in the use of this tissue. Although the ABC focuses on psychiatric cases and matched controls, collaborations using neurological cases (such as Parkinson's, Huntingdon's, and dementia) may be collected for specific collaborations.

The brain tissue in the Alabama Brain Collection is collected in collaboration with several entities with an emphasis on the preservation of high-quality tissue samples and the acquisition of detailed clinical information on all of the cases.

If you are interested in obtaining postmortem tissue from the ABC, please submit an application to the ABC Director. In recognition that postmortem tissue from patients with psychiatric illness and from normal controls is limited, the guidelines and stipulations below are intended to ensure optimal use of this resource and to establish mutually beneficial collaborations with all scientists who are using the tissue.

ABC Policy for the Use of Postmortem Tissue

The Alabama Brain Collection  (ABC) was developed as a University of Alabama, Heersink School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry resource to promote brain tissue research. It is a limited resource, labor and resource intensive, with emphasis on high quality clinical information and tissue. We encourage Neuroscientists, Neurologists, and Psychiatrists to become collaborators in the use of this tissue. The following guidelines and stipulations are intended to ensure optimal use of this resource and to establish mutually beneficial collaborations with University of Alabama scientists. 

1. All requests are reviewed by the ABC Director. Experts in the field will be consulted if necessary to determine if the scientific premise is sound. The disbursed tissue is exclusively for use of the applicant and may not be shared. The tissue may only be used in the approved experiments but may not be used in collaboration with commercial entities. Any additional use must have written ABC approval.

2. Requests must be based on an explicitly stated scientific hypothesis. Applicants are encouraged to discuss the proposed science with the director prior to submission.

3. Requests for tissue to be used in grant applications must be received at least 6 weeks prior to the submission deadline. A budget for the ABC must be included in the application, and we will assist in preparing the budget request. The ABC budget for funded grants that have had nonspecific budget reductions imposed must reflect the overall budget reduction (i.e., a 10% total budget reduction would mean a 10% ABC budget reduction).

4. Requests may be declined for reasons not reflecting scientific merit.

5. The ABC disburses coded tissue. In the spirit of true collaboration, data analysis is performed using mutually agreed upon procedures. All data must be kept confidential and are not to be released to third parties without the explicit approval of all parties involved.

6. The work involved in tissue acquisition and processing, and ascertainment of clinical data is critical to the scientific projects and is a foundation for collaboration. The ABC participates actively in analysis and reporting of data. Authorship and acknowledgment issues need to be addressed in advance of presentations and submission of abstracts and manuscripts. 

7. The ABC screens tissue for certain infectious deseases, such as HIV or hepatitis B, prior to disbursement. However, all tissue must be handled using appropriate Universal Precautions and treated as if it were infectious. 

8. All users of ABC tissue must secure IRB permission at their institutions and provide it to the ABC prior to tissue disbursement. If necessary, the ABC will provide assistance to facilitate this process. 

9. All unused ABC tissue must be returned to the ABC at the end of the experiment. For follow-up experiments, see #1 above.

These policies enable the ABC to meet obligations, to protect established collaborations, to seek financial support, and to ensure appropriate scientific involvement in selected projects.

Download the request form below. Please send your completed form via email to both Dr. Dwivedi and Dr. Schoonover. (yogeshdwivedi@uabmc.edu, kschoonover@uabmc.edu)

For scientific inquiries or inquiries about brain tissue donation: 

Yogesh Dwivedi, Ph.D.
Elesabeth Ridgely Shook Endowed Chair in Psychiatry
Professor of Psychiatry
Co-Director, UAB Depression and Suicide Center
Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs/Faculty Development
Director, Alabama Brain Bank
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Phone: 205-975-8459 | yogeshdwivedi@uabmc.edu

Kirsten Schoonover, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Tuskegee University
Associate Director
Alabama Brain Bank
Phone: 304-437-4554 | kschoonover@uabmc.edu

For postal correspondence address to the attention of the desired contact at:

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Sparks Center 560
1713 6th Ave. South
Birmingham, AL 35233