Return to: 
From today's Genome Web Daily News:
Coriell to Use Affy Chips to Genotype Thousands of Volunteers; Project Will Study Effect of Genetic Risk Factors on TreatmentDecember 5, 2007
By a GenomeWeb staff reporter
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The Coriell Institute for Medical Research yesterday kicked off the Delaware Valley Personalized Medicine Project, an initiative that plans to genotype up to 100,000 patient volunteers with the goal of studying the use of genetic risk factors in patient care.
The project will use Affymetrix’s Genome-Wide Human SNP Array 6.0 genotyping platform.
Coriell said the DVPMP will enroll 10,000 participants for the project over the next three years and eventually plans to reach 100,000 participants. Other partners in the program include the Fox Chase Cancer Center, Cooper University Hospital, and Virtua Health.
The initiative has so far raised $5 million from the William G. Rohrer Foundation, the William T. Read Legacy Fund, Eleanor Read, the Daniel J. Ragone Family Foundation, and Coriell's endowment.
In a statement, the DVPMP differentiated itself from “for-profit personal genome companies” because it “aims to explore use of genetic risk factors in clinical decision-making.”
Under the project, participants will be encouraged to consult with their physicians about their risk variants “and to make important decisions about preventative care and proper medical treatments,” Coriell said.
All patient volunteers “will control access to their genetic profiles and will determine whether they wish the information to become part of their medical records in the future,” the institute added. There is no charge to participate.
Erin O'Shea, a professor of molecular biology at Harvard University, will chair the project’s Informed Cohort Oversight Board, which will determine which risk variants are “appropriate” for use by patients and physicians to improve health.