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Minerva Resource, a non-for profit organization, promotes this mission through the skilled and careful collection of remnant tissue specimens donated by patients undergoing surgery. These specimens, which would otherwise be discarded, along with additional blood specimens, provide a molecular snap-shot of a given disease.

Diagnosing and Curing Human Disease
Using recent technical advances, researchers and physicians are poised to uncover secrets that are fundamental to the development and treatment of numerous human diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, and heart disease. At the core of all these diseases are changes to various molecules within a cell. Such molecules include genetic material (e.g., DNA and RNA), proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates. Therefore, essential to our understanding of how these diseases develop and progress is a knowledge of how these myriad of molecules are altered. Such alterations are referred to as the "molecular profile" of disease. Minerva Resource is dedicated to helping researchers identify the molecular profiles of disease with the explicit goal of detecting and eradicating such maladies.

Turning Medical Waste Into Cures For Disease
How do researchers discover molecular profiles of disease and how is this information used to cure disease? Surprisingly, the answer comes from medical waste. In most cases after surgery, only a fraction of the removed tissue is used by the pathologist to diagnose a disease. Ironically, the remainder of a specimen – the "remnant tissue" – is typically thrown away. This discarded tissue provides a snap-shot into how a disease develops. The study of molecules from these diseased tissue samples provides the fundamental building blocks for understanding the molecular profile of disease. Minerva Resource works with a team of highly skilled physicians and technicians for the careful, rapid, and ethical collection of these remnant tissues so they can be used for biomedical research.

For the staff and leadership of Minerva Resource, protecting patient welfare is a prime objective. Minerva Resource rigorously follows all state and federal regulatory guidelines and strictly adheres to all ethical and legal regulations and guidelines.

Making A Difference
The importance of human tissue  collection has been emphasized by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and other institutions in the national war against cancer and other devastating human diseases. Minerva Resource allows patients to enter into a unique collaboration with scientists in order to promote research that will identify novel methods to detect and cure disease. In this way, patients can make a tangible contribution to future health and wellbeing of many others who suffer from the same sickness.
 

Leadership

Lawrence R. Blocher, M.D., J.D.

Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Blocher is a licensed physician and attorney with over 20 years of experience in health care as both a practicing physician and a healthcare attorney. For the past 5 years, Dr. Blocher has been assisting researchers through directing the acquisition of remnant tissue samples. Dr. Blocher received his M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and completed his surgical internship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, TX. He also obtained his JD at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, Texas.
 

Thomas J. Cooper, Jr., M.D., FCAP

Executive Vice President,
Chief Medical Officer 

Dr. Cooper is a pathologist with over 15 years experience in private practice in Los Angeles. He was a Navy hospital corpsman and lab technician during the Vietnam era. Subsequently, he graduated cum laude from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He received his medical degree from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara, completed a rotating family practice internship at the Harbor/UCLA Medical Center, and his pathology residency at the UC Irvine. Dr. Cooper is certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic and clinical pathology.
 

Advisory Board

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