NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Metabolon announced today that it has been selected to perform large-scale metabolomic profiling on samples from US veterans as part of the US Department of Veterans Affairs' Million Veteran Program (MVP).
The program was launched in early 2011 to study the link between genes and disease with a voluntary research cohort of more than 450,000 military veterans. It was expanded in February 2016 in partnership with the Precision Medicine Initiative to include active duty enrollees.
Metabolon said it will analyze the samples to identify biomarkers of wellness and disease. The resulting data will be integrated into MVP's database of genetic, military and environmental exposure, lifestyle, and health information.
"By combining the genetics data already collected, the extensive clinical and lifestyle information that is unique to the VA healthcare system, and Metabolon’s expertise in human metabolism, MVP aims to be one of the largest databases of its kind in the world," Michael Gaziano, a Harvard Medical School researcher and MVP principal investigator, said in a statement.
In conjunction with its deal with the VA, Metabolon has also formed a strategic partnership with Akesogen, which has been genotyping samples for MVP since 2014 and will now offer Metabolon's metabolomics services to its customers. Additional terms were not disclosed.