Kaiser Permanente, UCSF Awarded $25 Million From NIH to Build Groundbreaking Resource for Genetic Epidemiology Research

Kaiser Permanente, UCSF Awarded $25 Million From NIH to Build Groundbreaking
Resource for Genetic Epidemiology Research
100,000 Kaiser Permanente members who have donated DNA for research into the
genetic and environmental causes of disease to be studied

OAKLAND, Calif. and SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kaiser
Permanente Research Program on Genes, Environment, and Health (RPGEH) and the
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have been awarded $24.8 million
over two years by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to create a new
resource for studying disease, health, and aging.

With this support, Kaiser Permanente's RPGEH and UCSF will conduct a
genome-wide analysis of DNA samples from 100,000 Kaiser Permanente members
from Northern California who have volunteered to join the RPGEH. This new and
detailed genetic information - which has never before been generated on such a
large and diverse population - will be linked to decades of historical
clinical and other health-related information on these participants, taken
from health surveys and the Kaiser Permanente electronic health record, the
world's largest civilian electronic health record. Environmental information
will also be included in the new resource, such as information about air and
water quality, proximity to parks and healthy foods, and much more. The
resulting resource will give researchers an entirely new platform for studying
genetic and environmental influences over time on a wide variety of health
conditions, across diverse populations.

The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the NIH, was the key driver for
the grant, in part because the average age of those whose DNA will be
genotyped is 65. "A body of research tells us that both genes and
environmental factors influence how we age," explains NIA director Richard J.
Hodes, MD. "We are very excited about the opportunity to develop this
extraordinary database in an older population, to facilitate studies of
gene-environment interaction as determinants of health, disease, and
longevity."

The UCSF Institute for Human Genetics is the partner on the project and will
perform the actual genotyping. Grant funds will be shared by both
institutions.

"This investment of federal dollars will provide researchers with access to a
uniquely rich resource for research on genetic and environmental effects on
health, aging, and disease," says Cathy Schaefer, PhD, executive director of
the RPGEH. "Providing access to genome-wide genetic data on such a large
population, combined with rich clinical and environmental data, is without
precedent."

For example, the genetic information generated by the project will include new
data regarding drug metabolism and drug response, information that may help
researchers to discover genetic factors that explain differences between
people in response to medications. This would intern help doctors provide
patients with the best medicines for them individually, with less trial and
error, based on their genetic background. It may also help researchers
understand why some patients with cancer or heart disease, for example,
develop certain symptoms and other patients do not, insights that may lead to
new treatments and, in some cases, new ways to lessen the severity or even
prevent disease.

Neil Risch, Ph.D., co-director of the RPGEH, director of the UCSF Institute
for Human Genetics, and co-chair of the Department of Epidemiology and
Biostatistics at UCSF, will share lead investigator responsibilities for the
grant with Schaefer. The genotyping will be performed at the UCSF Genomics
Core Facility, part of the Institute for Human Genetics, under the director of
Pui-Yan Kwok, MD, Ph.D., a co-investigator on the grant and the Henry Bachrach
Distinguished Professor at UCSF.

"This award represents a landmark in the development of the RPGEH resource,
and fulfillment of years of planning," says Risch. "Following the human genome
project, the development of very efficient and inexpensive high-density assays
of genetic variation spanning the entire human genome is what has enabled this
study to move forward. The marriage of this technology with the unrivaled
comprehensive longitudinal health information in the Kaiser Permanente
databases on a very large number of subjects provides an unprecedented
opportunity to revolutionize genetic epidemiology research. We are delighted
that the NIH shares in this vision, in addition to our prior funders."

The two-year grant was awarded by the NIH with funds from the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Funding for the grant came from three
NIH sources: the Office of the Director, the National Institute on Aging, and
the National Institute of Mental Health.

"This grant is recognition of the excellence of research that Kaiser
Permanente is able to do. No other research institution can match the size of
the genetic data base which we are developing through the RPGEH," says Robert
Pearl, MD, executive director and CEO of The Permanente Medical Group. "I am
optimistic that the combination of quality research, physician excellence and
technology will allow our nation to solve the healthcare challenges it faces
today and in the future."

Following several years of planning and development, Kaiser Permanente
Northern California Division of Research launched the RPGEH in 2005 and
initiated enrollment of participants from the Northern California region's
three million Kaiser Permanente members in 2007. The research program has
already obtained biospecimens from more than 110,000 members for its biobank,
as part of plans to collect DNA samples and health surveys from 500,000 Kaiser
Permanente members in Northern California by 2013, which will make it one of
the largest and most diverse population-based biobanks in the world.

This new NIH grant builds on an $8.6 million grant awarded in December 2008 by
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Pioneer Portfolio (RWJF) that is funding
the collection and storage of the first 200,000 DNA samples into the RPGEH, as
well as the building of the secure health and environmental databases needed
to power this groundbreaking genetic resource.

"The unequaled size and power of this biorepository will enable researchers to
analyze genetic, environmental and other health data in ways that were never
before possible. The findings they generate will help us target effective
prevention and treatment strategies that dramatically improve people's health
and the quality of their care," said RWJF President and CEO Risa
Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, MBA. "We're excited that this substantial new NIH funding
positions the RPGEH to take major leaps forward toward realizing this vision."

Research at Kaiser Permanente is funded almost entirely from grants, such as
those from the National Institutes of Health and private foundations. Generous
grants to support the RPGEH have also come from the Wayne and Gladys Valley
Foundation and the Ellison Medical Foundation. Kaiser Permanente's Community
Benefit Program has also provided financial support for the RPGEH.

Participation in the RPGEH is completely voluntary. An individual's genetic
information is not used in genetic research studies without his or her written
consent.

As with all studies carried out by the Division of Research, protecting
confidentiality and security of member information is a first priority. The
Division of Research maintains separate information and databases from the
Kaiser Permanente health plan and members' medical records.

Only Kaiser Permanente members in Northern California may participate in the
RPGEH. Those who are interested in joining the RPGEH should look for
information about the program in the U.S. mail from Kaiser Permanente.

About the Research Program on Genes, Environment, and Health (RPGEH)
As part of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research, the
RPGEH is a developing resource for scientific research. The RPGEH is designed
to facilitate epidemiologic studies of both genetic and environmental
influences on common health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes,
cancer, asthma, mental health disorders, and many others. The building blocks
of the RPGEH are:
-- Genetic information from saliva or blood samples provided by RPGEH
participants in Northern California;
-- Data collected from RPGEH participants through self-reported health
surveys;
-- Historical and ongoing clinical data on RPGEH participants from the
Kaiser Permanente electronic health record; and

-- New environmental databases that will allow researchers to study the
health effects of environmental factors such as air pollution and
water
quality as well as neighborhood characteristics, such as proximity to
parks, grocery stores, and healthy foods.

For more information, go to www.rpgeh.kaiser.org or call 1-866-369-2157.

About UCSF Institute on Human Genetics
The UCSF Institute for Human Genetics serves as a focal point for campus-wide
activities in human genetics and has faculty members engaged in human genetics
research spanning the four schools: Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and
Dentistry. The major aim of the Institute is to create an exciting, productive
and collaborative environment for research and training in human genetics, and
to provide institutional support and resources, such as the Genomics Core
Facilities, for faculty research and for teaching in a number of UCSF graduate
and medical school programs. For more information, go to
www.humgen.medschool.ucsf.edu.

About UCSF
The University of California, San Francisco is a leading university dedicated
to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research,
graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and
excellence in patient care. For further information, please visit
www.ucsf.edu.

About the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research
The Kaiser Permanente Division of Research conducts, publishes, and
disseminates epidemiologic and health services research to improve the health
and medical care of Kaiser Permanente members and the society at large. It
seeks to understand the determinants of illness and well-being and to improve
the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care. Currently, the Division of
Research's 400-plus staff members are working on more than 250 epidemiological
and health services research projects. For more information, go to
www.dor.kaiser.org.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We
are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and
not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide
high-quality, affordable health care services to improve the health of our
members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.6 million members
in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is
focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians,
specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are
empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for
health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and
world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care
innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community
health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente; UCSF

Emily Schwartz of GolinHarris, +1-415-274-7926; or Maureen McInaney of Kaiser
Permanente, +1-510-710-7322; or Kristen Boles of UCSF Public Affairs,
+1-415-476-2557