Dive Brief:
- Kaiser Permanente is creating a research biobank and actively recruiting members nationally to participate.
- The Kaiser Permanente Research Bank will include members' approval for access to their past and future medical records along with a blood sample for DNA. Participation is voluntary with no effect on health coverage.
- Collected data will be used to drive research innovation, reduce health disparities, and contribute to personalized medicine.
Dive Insight:
The company says it already has 22,000 members enrolled via previous regional biobanks but hopes to increase that number to 280,000 participants from all seven company regions.
In addition to DNA, the biobank stores behavioral and environmental information from its participant surveys. "That means we're able to connect this information with data from the patient's electronic medical record, which could allow us to make discoveries that just aren't possible with other research resources," KP Research Bank Associate Director Sarah Roswell said in a statement.
The diversity of its member population will help company researchers continue studies analyzing the role of genetics and behavioral data to learn about breast cancer among Latinos and genetic influences on blood pressure, colorectal and prostate cancers, hernias, staph infections, allergies, narcolepsy and bipolar disorders.