NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Mayo Clinic said today that it has established a new biobank at its Arizona campus that will support genomic and other research projects in areas that are of particular concern to the Latino population, including obesity, metabolic conditions, and diabetes.
The Sangre por Salud Biobank, a collaboration between Mayo, Mountain Park Health Center, and Arizona State University, will support a wide range of research studies, although there will be an emphasis on projects involving cardiometabolic risk and obesity.
Patients will be able to donate to the biobank only after they have been informed about procedures and consented, and researchers will be able to use the genomic resource without having to seek new samples and consents for each project they pursue, Mayo said.
The bank aims to have 2,000 Mountain Park participants enrolled over the next four years. Mayo noted that 100 participants have already enrolled.
Mayo also said that its main biobank, which launched in 2009 and is located in Rochester, Minn., has expanded participation to the Mayo Clinic Health System, Mayo's group of primary care clinics and hospitals in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa.
Mayo also launched another biobank at its Florida facility last year, and it expects to have a total of 50,000 participants providing samples and clinical information for use in genomics research by the year 2016.