Abstract

Why Biobanks are An Essential Core for Precision Medicine Research

Nazneen Aziz, Executive Director, Kaiser Permanente Research Bank

Next generation sequencing (NGS), introduced in 2005, has revolutionized the personalized/precision medicine by increasing the speed at which the genome can be sequenced at an exponentially lower cost. Within 5 years of its introduction and widespread use in research, NGS is now starting to impact the diagnostic and healthcare industry. Because it has a higher throughput and lower cost per base, NGS has been adopted into clinical testing far more rapidly than any other prior molecular technologies. The embracing of a new technology for routine diagnostics usually takes over 10 - 14 years or more. What is particularly intriguing about NGS’s rapid adoption into clinical testing is that compared to other molecular technologies it has a number of intricacies associated with its implementation that is unfamiliar to the clinical laboratory. However, despite the power of the NGS technology, advances in precision medicine cannot happen without the availability of large numbers of consented individuals whose genome is sequenced.   Dr. Aziz will address the opportunities, complexities and challenges of NGS clinical testing and will discuss the important role biobanks play in the advancement of genomic medicine.

Dr. Aziz who leads the Kaiser Permanente Research Bank (KPRB) will describe the infrastructure, recruitment process and collection of KPRB’s samples and data. Efforts are underway to build on existing regional biobank collections to create an enterprise wide resource of 500,000 participants who represent membership in all seven Kaiser Permanente regions, consequently creating one of the world’s largest and most diverse repositories of genetic, environmental, and health data. The KPRB will be a core resource for translational research to advance knowledge about prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of disease and will impact the health and healthcare of KP members and the communities.

KP researchers and external collaborators can access DNA samples, serum, whole blood and a comprehensive life style survey of participants focused on behavioral and environmental factors, and their associated electronic health records. KPRB participants come from a large and diverse membership that allow the investigation of common diseases as well as rarer ones. In genomics research, large participation and the diversity of participants is of critical value because it allows us to understand the causative variants of disease for all ethnic groups.