Yousef Turk
Pronouns:
Research Mentor(s): Salim Hayek
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Internal Medicine – Cardiology / Medicine
Program: UROP
Session: Session 6 (3:40pm – 4:30pm)
Authors: Yousef Turk, Salim Hayek, Janet Houghtby
Abstract
The Michigan and You – Partnering to Advance Research Together (MY PART) study aims to diversify the biorepository for Michigan Medicine, which collects and distributes biospecimens to researchers to promote discovery and improve health outcomes. It is a project that stems from the Michigan Genomics Initiative (MGI) whose objective is to combine electronic health records with a corresponding genetic sample in order to gain medical insights. This study is important for the future of healthcare as researchers will be able to use these genetic samples in their research to advance diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. The purpose of this project is to diversify the genomic pool so that health can be better developed rather than the “one size fits all” approach that is taken currently. The methodologies used to conduct this project include emailing, calling, and finding other ways to approach possible study participants. We then collect saliva or blood samples from consented participants and use coded identifiers rather than names or other personal identifiers to associate with the samples. We ask the participants to complete health-related survey questions which will be used along with their genetic sample for a better understanding of the sample for researchers. There are no true results or conclusions with our goal being to continuously recruit and add as many genetic samples with the intention of diversifying the biorepository so that it can better reflect the diversity of the United States and improve healthcare research. The results from this goal are that MY PART has contributed more than 3000 samples to the Central BioRepository with 30% being non-white or Caucasian, which is a significant increase compared to the MGI study with only 14%. This clinical research has significant social benefits to the overall future of healthcare, which includes hospitals and the larger public health.
