Accelerating Medicines Partnership-Autoimmune and Immunologic Disease Tissue Research Core

Project Summary The successful Accelerating Medicines Partnership in RA/Lupus (AMP1) program focused on deconstructing disease tissues through single-cell transcriptomic technologies. AMP in Autoimmune and Immune-Mediated Diseases (AMP AIM) is poised to expand the understanding of the cellular components and interactions at play

in four autoimmune disease target tissues with new spatially-oriented modalities of single-cell analyses. As in the AMP1, the AMP AIM will require high-quality samples for interrogation, standardized methods to assess sample quality and common molecular/phenotypic biomarker testing across all subjects for a clinically and

molecularly well-phenotyped cohort to apply new cutting-edge technologies to re-construct disease. The OMRF tissue research core (TRC) is uniquely positioned to successfully deploy a centralized TRC across all Disease Teams for Lupus (SLE), RA, Sjogren’s Disease (SjD), and Psoriatic Spectrum Diseases

(PSD). With a robust, existing infrastructure, capabilities, and leadership, the OMRF TRC will provide the Network with: 1) standardized protocols and manuals to be used across all parts of the Network, 2) centralized logistics for collection, transport, storage and dissemination, 3) centralized, trans-disease QC and initial testing

of all samples in a continuous manner as samples are collected for early quality management and identification of samples of high importance, 4) tissue imaging (basic histology & initial high-dimensional) utilizing sample sparing workflows that provide scoring and QC of tissue, plus initial multi-omic, spatially-informed data sets,

and 5) industry standard repository and image database systems. The OMRF TRC is centrally located, making it an ideal location for logistics management and, since it was the repository for AMP1 carries Network knowledge along with the extensive experience as repository for multiple other national consortiums, provides for continuity during transition to AMP AIM. The OMRF TRC

already has infrastructure in place and the reputation that follows from strong leadership to continue to act as an ideal honest broker for the Network. The OMRF TRC has state-of-the-art facilities that are integrated with advanced technologies within its associated cores to receive, store, collect meaningful QC and initial data sets,

and disseminate selected samples to technology and analytic cores (TAC) poised to provide data from emerging technologies to build upon the deep clinical and initial characterization data, to make extremely high- dimensional, robust datasets. Considering the longstanding history of the OMRF TRC in biobanking samples for autoimmune disease

studies, the OMRF TRC is poised to a produce a solid foundation of banked samples, organized logistics, and initial multi-omic datasets that will setup the Network for success in reconstructing our mechanistic understanding and clinical application of these new data to better treat these autoimmune diseases.