A surgery may save a life. But research performed on tissue retained from surgical procedures can save countless lives. And as each scientific leap builds on a previous breakthrough, support for research can resonate for generations. That’s exactly what Norton Herrick had in mind when he made a generous gift to Keck Medicine of USC’s Division of Research in the Department of Surgery. The gift is, appropriately enough, a nod to another generation, as the funds have been used to purchase the Norton Herrick Biorepository, named in his honor.
The biorepository will allow for the collection and preservation of 500 samples in the first year alone, an enormous boon for Keck Medicine researchers, scientists in other departments at USC, and potential collaborators across the world. A smaller-scale biorepository dedicated just to the division of hepatobiliary and kidney surgery has already supplied material to 20 different researchers and resulted in multiple published collaborations. The Norton Herrick Biorepository is expected to have a much greater reach, and thus an incalculable value to current and future medical researchers.
Any patient undergoing surgery at Keck Medicine of USC will be able to help the future of medical and surgical research by opting to have some of their blood or tissue preserved. With such a large and diverse patient pool and the gifted team of Keck Medicine researchers, the Herrick gift has a near-limitless potential to save and improve human lives.