Welcome to RAPS

Systemic and inaccessible diseases, such as metastatic cancers, HIV, and neurological disorders are difficult to study, largely due to the inaccessibility of tissues for research use. Tissues collected from patients soon after death provide a solution to scarce tissue resources. These “rapid autopsy programs” (RAPs) are growing in popularity and a limited number of post-mortem based programs exist worldwide. The burden to build and maintain these programs is quite heavy - limiting the number of institutions able to launch and maintain a successful program. While no two programs are quite the same, it is advantageous for the field to come together to share ideas, challenges, and solutions. To that end, this professional society shall support the rapidly growing field and create a collaborative community to advance biomedical research.