Starting in 2009, researchers will be able to access a giant “biobank” of health and environmental data to study contributing factors to a variety of current health concerns, including Alzheimer’s disease.
The data repository will be built and maintained by Kaiser Permanente using an $8.6 million grant from the Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

“The unequaled size and power of this biorepository will drive research that can dramatically improve the health and health care of millions of Americans,” according to Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the foundation. “We are proud to help establish this as a premier resource for the nation that can significantly advance medical knowledge and treatments.”

The Northern California Division of Research of Kaiser Permanete will use the grant to accumulate and store the first 200,000 DNA samples, using the samples to create a database of health and environmental information. The foundation and Kaiser Permanente hope to grow the database to 500,000 samples over the next three years. The goal is to create a sufficient statistical sample so that “even subtle effects of environmental and genetic factors in less common health conditions such as mental health disorders or autoimmune diseases” can be identified, according to a foundation press release.

The grant also is to be used to create and put in place policies and procedures allowing access to the to researchers worldwide.
Biobanks critics worry that public access to genetic information could result in discrimination. However, a new federal law prohibits such discrimination, the foundation said. Additionally, the foundation release said, “All biorepository data and DNA samples are de-identified and stored in secure locations with limited authorized access.”

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