{"title":"Kernis Health","summary":"Concierge custodial biobanking: Kernis coordinates with your care team to collect and preserve tumor tissue and blood in multiple formats, including live tissue, and keeps it under your control for future testing, trials or personalized treatment.","body":"Kernis Health offers what it calls custodial biobanking, under the tagline \"Own Your Biology.\" It works with your care team to collect tumor tissue and blood at surgery or biopsy, preserves them in several formats, and holds them on your behalf so you decide where they go later. It serves patients nationwide.\n\n## What they offer\n\n- Five preservation formats: live whole tissue, cryopreserved live cells, flash-frozen tissue, OCT-embedded tissue and paraffin (FFPE).\n- Coordination with your surgeon and pathology team, including working out how much tissue can be set aside after diagnosis needs are met.\n- A concierge collection kit for blood and solid tumor.\n- Storage at a partner biobank, with a patient portal showing chain of custody and quality-control reports.\n- Transfers to any qualified lab or trial site you choose.\n- Retrieval of existing FFPE blocks if your surgery has already happened.\n- Help arranging further testing, including genomic, RNA and protein, immunohistochemistry, organoid and functional drug testing.\n\n## How it works and what it costs\n\nKernis describes the steps as a free consultation, a service agreement and informed consent, coordination with your care team, kit delivery, collection, storage and then access through the portal. Plan this before a procedure, because live tissue can't be recovered afterward. Kernis does not publish prices; ask for a quote (checked October 23, 2026).\n\n## How it fits with other services here\n\nMy [biopsy tissue guide](/resources/preserve-tissue/) covers what to ask your surgeon first. StoreMyTumor and SpeciCare also store patient-owned tissue. Live tissue can feed functional testing at companies such as [Palitra](/companies/palitra/) and [Travera](/companies/travera/), and some [personalized vaccine](/resources/cancer-vaccines/) programs need tumor samples.\n\n## Questions I would ask\n\n- How far ahead of my biopsy or surgery do we need to start?\n- Which formats would you collect for my procedure, and why?\n- What will it cost, including storage, transfers and any testing?\n- What do you need from my surgeon and pathology lab, and what if they push back?\n- Can you retrieve my existing FFPE blocks from earlier procedures?\n\n## Contacts\n\n- Website: [kernis.health](https://kernis.health/)\n- How it works: [Patient journey](https://kernis.health/patient-journey.html)\n- FAQ: [kernis.health/faq](https://kernis.health/faq.html)","topics":["samples","tumor-testing"],"capabilities":["sample-services"],"organizationType":"company","services":["sample-storage"],"communityFocus":["People having cancer surgery or biopsy","Caregivers"],"sources":[{"id":"home","label":"Kernis Health home page","url":"https://kernis.health/","publisher":"Kernis Health","checkedAt":"2026-10-23","supports":"Custodial biobanking, 'Own Your Biology'; five formats (live whole tissue, cryopreserved live cells, flash-frozen, OCT-embedded, FFPE); nationwide; testing menu including genomic, RNA/proteomic, IHC, organoid and functional drug testing.","type":"official"},{"id":"journey","label":"Patient journey","url":"https://kernis.health/patient-journey.html","publisher":"Kernis Health","checkedAt":"2026-10-23","supports":"Free consultation; service agreement and informed consent; tissue negotiation and allocation with care team; concierge kit for blood and solid tumor; partner biobank storage; portal with chain of custody and QC reports; transfers to qualified labs or trial sites.","type":"official"},{"id":"faq","label":"Kernis FAQ","url":"https://kernis.health/faq.html","publisher":"Kernis Health","checkedAt":"2026-10-23","supports":"FFPE retrieval if surgery has already happened; transfers to any qualified lab or trial site; no public pricing.","type":"official"}],"applicability":"For people who expect surgery or a biopsy and want some of the tumor tissue kept for future testing, research or personalized treatment. Inclusion is not a recommendation or a finding that this service is right for your situation.","limitations":"Service details and prices are reported by the company unless noted, as of October 2026. Your hospital and surgeon must agree to release tissue, and stored tissue is not guaranteed to be usable for any particular test or treatment. Confirm current requirements and costs directly.","disclosure":{"type":"none","text":"I have no financial or business relationship with Kernis Health."},"reviewedAt":"2026-10-23","relatedIds":["af18cbc9-1c7f-4799-a763-3f53ba52b1fd","892119f9-0439-4e43-b467-66c99bc7be7c","966ad3d5-e20a-40de-ba3d-cb072e57ebef","f7221927-6b87-4be3-9a7c-906768a192a5"],"assetIds":["0221a306-7424-4227-a598-936667285fbf"],"relatedX":[],"website":"https://kernis.health/","serviceStatus":"available","access":{"label":"How the patient journey works","url":"https://kernis.health/patient-journey.html"},"regions":["United States"],"facts":[{"label":"Formats","value":"Live whole tissue, cryopreserved live cells, flash-frozen, OCT-embedded and FFPE, per Kernis (October 2026).","sourceIds":["home"]},{"label":"Cost","value":"No published prices; first consultation is free, per Kernis (checked October 23, 2026).","sourceIds":["journey","faq"]},{"label":"Coverage","value":"Nationwide in the U.S., per Kernis.","sourceIds":["home"]},{"label":"Already had surgery?","value":"Kernis offers retrieval of existing FFPE blocks.","sourceIds":["faq"]}],"id":"ed25e90c-ff03-4cd4-9a94-718520fc3e45","kind":"company","slug":"kernis-health","revision":"a1d43dc8-4826-44d0-8c42-015b63197965","canonicalUrl":"https://kevinwimer.com/companies/kernis-health/","publishedAt":"2026-10-25T02:18:32.515Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-25T02:18:32.515Z","previewOnly":false,"shareImageAssetId":"0221a306-7424-4227-a598-936667285fbf"}