The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has expanded its collection of genetic and clinical data to include clinical and genetic information collected from three asthma research networks.
The addition of asthma data comes as an expansion of SHARe, (SNP Health Association Resource), a Web-based dataset started in 2007 providing qualified researchers with free access to data from multiple large population-based studies. This new expansion of the project, called SHARe-Asthma Resource Project (SHARP) is also funded by the NHLBI.
SHARP includes data on 2,332 people with asthma and 805 families whose DNA was tested for 1 million genetic variations. In addition, clinical data gathered during asthma clinical trials, such as lung function, allergy status, and respiratory symptoms are included in the database.
To protect the confidentiality of study participants who agreed to share their medical data, the database does not include any personal information.
"The NIH is committed to both broadly sharing research information while also providing maximum safeguards to the privacy and confidentiality of our valued study volunteers," says Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD, director, NHLBI. "Expanding the SHARe program to include asthma through the SHARP initiative will greatly expand our understanding of lung disease biology using genetic and genomic technologies."
The three asthma clinical research networks providing data are the Childhood Asthma Management Program, the Childhood Asthma Research and Education Network, and the Asthma Clinical Research Network.
