NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) - The Coriell Institute for Medical Research has won a $16.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue to host a genetics resource of specimens and clinical data specifically for use in studies of neurological diseases.
The Camden, NJ-based institute said today that it will use the funding, which is spread over five years, to maintain the Human Genetics Resource Center for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
The repository was founded in 2002 as a centralized resource of clinical and genetic data from thousands of de-identified study participants to be used in research of neurological diseases such as stroke, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and autism. During the first five years of the project, Coriell said it received donations of samples and clinical data from nearly 23,800 individuals from nine different countries.
Coriell said that it now plans to collect and distribute 30,000 new and unique genetic samples.
"We look forward to working closely with all participants, from private citizens who donate their own samples and clinical data, to clinicians who care for patients with neurological disorders, to scientists who discover genetic risk factors for neurological and other diseases," Roderick Corriveau, a Coriell associate professor and principal investigator for the project, said in a statement.