Thank you for participating in the Kaiser Permanente Research Bank.

Thanks to continued funding from Kaiser Permanente and because of you, we are creating genetic data from samples you donated. This new data will allow researchers to learn more about a person’s chances of getting a disease based on genetic changes.  Although this information is not yet part of routine medical care, it may improve disease prevention and treatment in the future.  We are proud that the diversity of the Kaiser Permanente Research Bank will allow this information to benefit people of all backgrounds.

You may not be familiar with polygenic risk scores (which we can generate with the new data), so I’m excited we are describing them in our Spring newsletter. We will give you some background about polygenic risk scores and highlight some recently approved KP Research Bank studies that will be using these scores to estimate risk for some conditions.

 In this newsletter, you can read about:

• Polygenic risk scores
• Research on the genetics of migraine headaches using KP Research Bank data
• New KP Research Bank projects

What’s new?

Over the next few months, we will be asking you to complete a survey about your health and lifestyle factors that influence your health. We appreciate your time to provide updated information!

Thank you for being a part of the KP Research Bank!

Wishing you a healthy, safe, and enjoyable summer.

Elizabeth A. McGlynn, PhD
Vice President,
Kaiser Permanente Research