In the Southwestern U.S., Hispanic and Latino people face significant health challenges compared with people from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. These challenges include being overweight, having type 2 diabetes and getting cancer more often. Also, there are fewer Hispanic and Latino people involved in medical research.

A collaborative biobank

Mayo Clinic partnered with Mountain Park Health Center and Arizona State University to create the Sangre por Salud Biobank in Phoenix. This biobank's name means "blood for health." The biobank aims to support the health of Hispanic and Latino populations and include more Hispanic and Latino participants in research.

A biobank is a collection of biological samples and medical or environmental information used for research. The Sangre por Salud Biobank includes data from self-identified Hispanic and Latino participants only.

The goals of the Sangre por Salud Biobank are to:

• Include more Hispanic and Latino people in biomedical research.
• Reduce health disparities.
• Facilitate biomedical research opportunities for Hispanic and Latino patients receiving care through Mountain Park Health Center.
• Give investigators more opportunities to include Hispanic and Latino patients in research studies.

So far, the biobank has enrolled more than 3,750 participants. The most common health issues participants face are:

• Heart disease.
• High blood pressure.
• High cholesterol levels.
• Metabolic syndrome.
• Obesity.
• Prediabetes.
• Type 2 diabetes.

Community advisory board

As part of the collaborative efforts involving the Sangre por Salud Biobank, Mayo Clinic, Mountain Park Health Center and Arizona State University established a community advisory board. Community advisory board members share their views on important community issues related to research. Hearing these opinions can help scientists understand complex topics where biology, ethics and social factors connect. The community advisory board members are the voice of the community. They guide investigators to provide answers to challenges the community faces.

For participants

The Sangre por Salud Biobank is not currently open for enrollment.

For researchers

The Sangre por Salud Biobank was created under the leadership of Mayo Clinic Biobank. It is a unique opportunity for Mayo Clinic researchers and researchers outside of Mayo Clinic who want to study genomic, pharmacogenomic, metabolomic and epigenomic phenomena in populations with genomic diversity. All Sangre por Salud Biobank participants are Hispanic or Latino, with most tracing their origins to Mexico and the U.S. Southwest.

The collaborating organizations behind this biobank expect it to be used in these ways:

• As a control group to a case series.
• For cross-sectional studies.
• For prospective cohort studies.
• For nested case-control study using banked, pre-disease biospecimens.
• For cost and health services research.
• To support supplements with the National Institutes of Health for PA and R01 grants.

Samples collected

The biobank collects these baseline, post-absorptive specimens:

• Three 10-mL, lavender-top tubes. These tubes contain ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. One tube is used for DNA extraction. Buffy coats also are saved.
• One 10-mL, red-top tube. This tube contains no additives.
• One 4.5-mL, light-blue-top tube. This tube contains sodium citrate.

Data collected

The biobank collects these types of data:

• Clinical lab measurements compiled in a database, including lipid panels, complete blood counts and differentials, and blood chemistry.
• Extensive self-administered questionnaires.
• Family histories and anthropometrics. A clinical research coordinator administers the collection of these data.

Sangre por Salud review criteria and governance

The Sangre por Salud core team and Biobank Access Committee review applications based on whether the proposed project:

• Aligns with the mission of Mountain Park Health Center.
• Aligns with institutional goals.
• Supports scientific excellence.
• Has the potential to improve patient care.
• Includes the number of participants and the amount and type of samples requested.
• Overlaps with active projects.
• Features projects developed by members from divisions and departments where patients were recruited. This includes General Internal Medicine, Primary Care Internal Medicine and Family Medicine.
• Addresses a serious health problem globally or nationally.

This resource primarily caters to the needs of Mayo Clinic researchers. But researchers outside of Mayo Clinic can access these samples by including a Mayo Clinic co-investigator on their projects.

Publications

View the Sangre por Salud Biobank's My NCBI Collection on PubMed.

Contact

For more information, contact:

Sept. 19, 2024

Original article: https://www.mayoclinic.org/sangre-por-salud-biobank