Last Updated on February 2, 2026 by YGK News Staff
KHSC will be the new home of samples collected from decades of cancer clinical trials as the Tumour Tissue Data Repository (TDDR) and Queen’s Laboratory for Molecular Pathology (QLMP) move under one roof in a new facility.
The facility was built to accommodate the growing space and infrastructure needs of the program, as well as to allow for more simplified collaboration between researchers.
The TTDR houses tissue specimen collected through clinical trials conducted by the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG), spanning back to 1997, while the QLMP can be contracted conduct studies on those specimen – often seeing the two labs working hand in hand.
The samples are maintained and studied to better understand how cancers evolve and respond to treatment.
While previously one area used by researchers was within KHSC with the rest being in Queen’s facilities, they now move into a more collaborative role with the TTDR.
Dr. Lois Shepherd, Operational Director of the TTDR and Professor at Queen’s University, says bringing all the research under one roof at KHSC will not only increase efficiency, but allow for collaborative relationships to build with researchers at the hospital network.
“I think it can only build collaborative relationships with researchers at KHSC,” Dr. Shepherd said,
“You don’t ever want to be reduplicating things, so it’s possible that we’ll be able to share resources and even share personnel at some point going forward and use their expertise and they can use our expertise for more robust research endeavors.”
The new facility will also see access to new equipment, allowing TTDR and QLMP to further build on past research.
Dr. Shepherd says while things were manageable out of multiple locations, being consolidated is a welcome change and in the month they’ve been moved into the new facility she is seeing how it can bring more efficiency.
As for the old spaces that housed the TTDR, Dr. Shepherd said she’s unsure what will happen with them, but there’s no shortage of candidates looking for space.
“The main part of our area that had all our laboratory equipment in it [Richards Laboratory] researchers will move into that space and take over,” Dr. Shepherd said.
“Everybody’s crying for more space and expanded needs. So I don’t think they’ll have any trouble filling it up.”
Since 1997, the TTDR has collected and stewarded samples from over 120 clinical trials.
