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."

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente; UCSF