Next generation Biobanking

Biorepositories provide a resource for researchers to increase understanding of complex diseases. Studies such as the Lung Genomics Research Consortium (LGRC), a two-year project launched in October 2009, are going a step further than standard biobanking practices and characterizing the samples with their molecular makeup. The molecular data can then be mined along with the clinical data. Led by National Jewish Health and funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the LGRC project consists of five institutions, including Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Collaborators in the project work with samples banked at the Lung Tissue Research Consortium (LTRC), which houses tissue samples and blood from lung disease sufferers, primarily chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), along with a rich set of clinical data from patients.