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Patients asked to donate unused samples to biobank
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Thanks to a newly-formed MUSC Biomedical Research Bank and a new box on
registration forms, MUSC patients may choose to help researchers learn
more about preventing, finding and treating different diseases and
health conditions.
MUSC has added a new box to patient registration forms filled out for
certain routine health procedures, such as collecting blood and tissue
samples. If patients check the “opt out” box, they do not consent to
have those samples used, but if they leave the box unchecked then they
“opt in” and provide a valuable service to researchers that will help
advance health care research to provide better treatments and cures.
John Arthur, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine, Nephrology Division,
and director of the MUSC Biomedical Research Bank, said it’s exciting
to have a new way of collecting samples for research because it gets
MUSC closer to really personalizing medicine.
“Right now, there is so much trial and error in medicine, and it
affects patients’ quality of life. By using these confidential,
de-identified samples in research taking place at MUSC, we are in a
much better position to learn more, and faster, so that we can
positively impact patients’ quality of life in dealing with their
condition or disease much sooner.”
Different groups of people have different needs, and this can be due to
genetics or other factors.
Unfortunately, physicians and researchers do not always understand the
differences or which treatments work best for which people. An
important way to study this is to look at samples such as tissue, blood
and other bodily fluids, to learn why some people get sick while others
do not, or why some drugs work well for some people but not others.
The MUSC Biomedical Research Bank, a bio-sample bank that will become
fully operational by March, will store unused blood, tissue and other
fluid samples which might be used for later research. When patients
consent to donate their samples, those samples are de- identified to
protect patient confidentiality, meaning that the samples cannot be
traced back to the person who donated them. As a result of this
contribution, researchers at a later time can access the bank with
appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval to study the
samples.
When a sample goes into the bank, it is stripped of all identifying
information and scanned into the database. When a researcher has an
idea for a study, he or she contacts the sample bank administrators and
the IRB to request samples. Usually these requests are for very
specific samples related to certain diseases, so the more samples in
the bank, the better. Those samples are then used as data in a study
that is hoped will become published and lead to better treatments or
even cures for certain conditions.
Ida Spruill, Ph.D., MUSC College of Nursing assistant professor, said
she’s gotten positive community feedback. Spruill is the principal
investigator on a research grant seeking the attitudes and perceptions
of patients about this new idea.
“One pastor summed up this thought with me, ‘If you can help someone,
there is no cost, it only takes one time, and it’s confidential, then
why wouldn’t you want to help others?’ he said. While people may be
cautious at first with this idea, the positive feedback has been
overwhelming. People understand that by allowing MUSC to use samples
for future research that would otherwise be thrown away, they are
helping to find better treatments for people in their communities.”
Friday, Feb. 18,
2011
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