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Clinical Sample Biobank Slated for Qatar

Map of Qatar (CDC)

U.S. Centers for Disease Control

A collection of samples and clinical measurements from tens of thousands of people is to be opened in Qatar, an Arab Gulf country, to help scientists understand the causes of major diseases and develop new treatments. The project was announced today at the Royal Society in London during a visit from Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned, the wife of the Emir of Qatar.

The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development and Qatar’s Supreme Council of Health, with the assistance of experts from Imperial College London is establishing the Qatar Biobank. It is expected to collect medical data from up to 100,000 volunteers and store samples of their blood and urine in a high-tech storage facility over many years.

The biobank will allow scientists to look at diseases already present in the population as well as following up with participants to see who contracts diseases in the future. Researchers will compare data, including genetic information and data on environmental exposures and lifestyles, from participants who develop illnesses with data from those who remain healthy.

The biobank develops expect to use the data to identify early markers that can indicate when someone is likely to develop a particular disease, to help people receive early treatment or take measures to prevent a disease from spreading.

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