Skip Navigation
National Institute of Environmental Health SciencesNational Institutes of Health
Increase text size Decrease text size Print this page

Press Releases

NIEHS, UNC Collaborate on Registry of Volunteers to Relate Gene Variants, Environmental Disease

Source: States News Service

12-Jan-04
"Scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, N.C., one of the National Institutes of Health, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are collaborating on a registry that will eventually include 20,000 patients at various UNC medical facilities and will allow researchers to better study the relationship between environmental exposures, genetic susceptibility, and human disease," the NIH said in a press release.

The Environmental Polymorphism Registry was initiated by NIEHS Director of Clinical Research Perry Blackshear, M.D., D. Phil., and NIEHS Health Scientist Administrator Patricia Chulada, Ph.D., M.H.S. Their collaborators at UNC are Director of the General Clinical Research Center Paul Watkins, M.D., and Director of Training and Career Development Susan Pusek.

A pilot study launching the registry requested consent from 600 patients at UNC outpatient clinics. About 80 percent of those asked agreed to allow a portion of blood drawn for other medical purposes to be used for the isolation of DNA that was placed in the registry depository. The samples are coded to protect the identity of donors and then made available for researchers at the National Institutes of Health, including NIEHS, and UNC, and their collaborators, to screen for the presence of genetic variants, called polymorphisms (literally "many forms"), in a category of genes known as "environmentally sensitive" genes.

These genes control how our bodies handle substances from the environment, encoding proteins that regulate a wide variety of cell functions such as toxicant and drug metabolism, cell proliferation and differentiation, cell cycle, cell death, DNA repair, signal transduction, hormone receptors, immune and inflammatory responses, and others.

In recruiting volunteers for the registry, health status is not a requirement, whether a patient has a disease or condition or not. The only requirement is that the patient be 18 years of age or older to give consent.

These genes control how the human body interacts with substances from the environment, encoding proteins that regulate a wide variety of cell functions such as the cell cycle, cell growth, proliferation and differentiation, cell death, DNA repair, hormone receptors, toxicant and drug metabolism, immune response and others.

Dr. Blackshear said that the registry will be unusual in that patient identifiers will be maintained in coded form, giving scientists the ability to re-contact participants at a later date for follow-up studies. "There were no resources such as this available to NIH or UNC researchers prior to this, although there are many available anonymous DNA repositories," Dr. Blackshear said. Data from the follow-up studies will allow scientists to identify groups of individuals with genetic polymorphisms in "environmentally sensitive" genes and possibly to correlate their genetic variants with patients' clinical histories and current health status.

"The data collected from these studies may be used to define environmental risk factors and develop preventative strategies to reduce the incidence of disease," Dr. Blackshear said. "This is a pioneering initiative," said Dr. Paul B. Watkins, professor of medicine and director of the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at UNC. "Clearly, this is the next step that's needed to increase our understanding of how genes interact with the environment, including the body's response to medicines."

Recruitment for the registry will begin soon at the Ambulatory Care Center at Mason Farm Road and S. Columbia Street in Chapel Hill, N.C. Other sites at UNC affiliated medical facilities may be added in 2004. Dr. Blackshear may be contacted on the registry, at (919) 541-4899.

Back to top Back to top

DNA Research: Registry to Study Links Among Genetics, Environment, and Disease

Source: NewsRx.net

07-Jan-04
Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) are developing a voluntary DNA registry to study the link among environmental exposures, genetic susceptibility and human disease.

Eventually to include 20,000 patients at various UNC medical facilities, the Environmental Polymorphism Registry will be unlike the many anonymous DNA repositories that have developed since the advent and recent completion of the human genome initiatives - in that patient identifiers will be maintained in coded form.

This innovation will allow scientists to contact registry participants at a later date for their permission to obtain additional information, to invite their participation in additional studies and to offer them the option to drop out of the registry. Currently, no similar resources are available to the U.S. National Institutes of Health or to researchers at UNC.

"This is a pioneering initiative," said Dr. Paul B. Watkins, professor of medicine and director of the university's Caviness General Clinical Research Center. "Clearly, this is the next step that's needed to increase our understanding of how genes interact with the environment, including the body's response to medicines."

The registry was initiated by Dr. Perry Blackshear, NIEHS director of clinical research, and Dr. Patricia Chulada, health science administrator at the institute in Research Triangle Park. Also collaborating with Watkins at UNC is Susan Pusek, GCRC director of training and career development.

Data from follow-up studies will help scientists identify groups of individuals with genetic polymorphisms, or variants, in "environmentally sensitive" genes and possibly to correlate these genetic variants with clinical histories and current health status.

These genes control how the human body interacts with substances from the environment, encoding proteins that regulate a wide variety of cell functions such as the cell cycle, cell growth, proliferation and differentiation, cell death, DNA repair, hormone receptors, toxicant and drug metabolism, immune response and others.

"The data collected from these studies may be used to define environmental risk factors and develop preventive strategies to reduce the incidence of disease," Blackshear said.

A pilot study to assess the project's feasibility requested consent from roughly 600 people at UNC outpatient clinics. About 80% agreed to allow a portion of a blood sample drawn for other medical purposes to be used for DNA isolation and for placement in the registry depository for 25 years. The participants also consented to being contacted for further information and about enrollment in studies. Donated samples were coded to protect donor identity.

"We were very pleased to see the pilot study so well received," Watkins said. "The NIEHS and UNC are taking the national lead in this very important area."

The only requirement for participation in the registry is that donors be at least 18 years old.

This article was prepared by Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2004, Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA via NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net.

Back to top Back to top

DNA Registry to Study Links Among Genetics, Environment, Disease

Source: AScribe Newswire

07-Jan-04
CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Jan. 7 [AScribe Newswire] -- Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [NIEHS] are developing a voluntary DNA registry to study the link among environmental exposures, genetic susceptibility and human disease.

Eventually to include 20,000 patients at various UNC medical facilities, the Environmental Polymorphism Registry will be unlike the many anonymous DNA repositories that have developed since the advent and recent completion of the human genome initiatives - in that patient identifiers will be maintained in coded form. This innovation will allow scientists to contact registry participants at a later date for their permission to obtain additional information, to invite their participation in additional studies and to offer them the option to drop out of the registry. Currently, no similar resources are available to the National Institutes of Health or to researchers at UNC.

"This is a pioneering initiative," said Dr. Paul B. Watkins, professor of medicine and director of the university's Caviness General Clinical Research Center. "Clearly, this is the next step that's needed to increase our understanding of how genes interact with the environment, including the body's response to medicines." The registry was initiated by Dr. Perry Blackshear, NIEHS director of clinical research, and Dr. Patricia Chulada, health science administrator at the institute in Research Triangle Park. Also collaborating with Watkins at UNC is Susan Pusek, General Clinical Research Center director of training and career development. Data from follow-up studies will help scientists identify groups of individuals with genetic polymorphisms, or variants, in "environmentally sensitive" genes and possibly to correlate these genetic variants with clinical histories and current health status.

These genes control how the human body interacts with substances from the environment, encoding proteins that regulate a wide variety of cell functions such as the cell cycle, cell growth, proliferation and differentiation, cell death, DNA repair, hormone receptors, toxicant and drug metabolism, immune response and others. "The data collected from these studies may be used to define environmental risk factors and develop preventive strategies to reduce the incidence of disease," Blackshear said.

A pilot study to assess the project's feasibility requested consent from roughly 600 people at UNC outpatient clinics. About 80 percent agreed to allow a portion of a blood sample drawn for other medical purposes to be used for DNA isolation and for placement in the registry depository for 25 years. The participants also consented to being contacted for further information and about enrollment in studies. Donated samples were coded to protect donor identity.

"We were very pleased to see the pilot study so well received," Watkins said. "The NIEHS and UNC are taking the national lead in this very important area." The only requirement for participation in the registry is that donors be at least 18 years old. Registry recruitment will begin this month at UNC's Ambulatory Care Center in Chapel Hill. Other UNC-affiliated medical facilities may be added in 2004.

CONTACT: Paul B. Watkins, 919-966-1435; pbwatkins@med.unc.edu, Perry Blackshear at 919-541-4899, Susan Pusek at 919-966-0128, Les Lang, School of Medicine Media Relations, 919-843-9687; llang@med.unc.edu

Back to top Back to top

USA.gov Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health
This page URL: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/databases/epr/press/index.cfm
NIEHS website: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/
Email the Web Manager at webmanager@niehs.nih.gov
Last Reviewed: October 03, 2007