The primary purpose of the Biobank is to help researchers study how our genes affect our health and well-being. More research can be done if biobanks share information with other researchers or databases that have similar data.

The Biobank plans to share some of the genetic data we have generated in databases such as dbGaP, which stands for ‘Database of Genotypes and Phenotypes’ that is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Data shared with dbGaP is de-identified to remove personal identifying information such as names, addresses, and date of birth. By sharing data, we hope to help researchers conduct more research on more health conditions with the goal of finding better treatments.

For example, researchers will be able to access the data from many people with and without asthma and look for genetic differences that are shared between people with asthma that are not present in people without asthma. By doing this, researchers may be able to identify the genetic differences that may be related to asthma. Similar studies can be done for cancer and diabetes.

More information about dbGaP can be found at https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-launches-dbgap-database-genome-wide-association-studies.

If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact the Biobank.