The Michael and Amira Dan Brain Tumour Bank Network is a multi-institutional tumour, blood and cell biobank initiative inspired by Dr. Michael Dan and supported by the University of Toronto and the Department of Surgery.

Dr. Dan's generous donation of $2 million provided the funding needed to establish the infrastructure for a Biobank Network, enabling the implementation of biobanks at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and St. Michael's Hospital and improvements to existing Biobanks at SickKids and UHN. In addition, a central virtual registry was created to facilitate the posting and annotation of available samples from all CNS tumour cases across the four University Hospitals.

The unification of resources will advance research and accelerate development toward effective treatment of patients with brain and spinal cord tumours. Investigators will have access to hundreds of samples including frozen and fresh tissue, blood, DNA, RNA, plasma and CSF, saved continously throughout the year. A central biobank network will also encourage collaborations between university hospitals, academic institutions, and industry partners.

In addition to advancing research and treatment of brain and spinal cancer, The Michael and Amira Dan Brain Tumour Bank Network is creating a comprehensive virtual Biobank at the University of Toronto. This biobank will serve as critical cornerstone for the brain tumour research community in Toronto and internationally, fostering cutting-edge translational medicine and drug discovery worldwide.