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Major new biobank to launch in Qatar
Sources: Gulf Times article, Press release
The first large-scale Arab population biobank is to be set up in Qatar, for research into common local diseases, notably diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development and Qatar's Supreme Council of Health have announced that the new Qatar Biobank is to be established with expert assistance from Imperial College, London. It will collate biological samples and linked medical and lifestyle data from up to 100,000 participants and follow their long-term health outcomes to facilitate research into genetic and environmental causes of major diseases. The new biobank will be the largest population-based study of this kind in an Arabic country, recruiting Qatari and south-east Asian participants, and it is hoped that the data will form a valuable contribution to international biobanking efforts. An initial pilot phase will recruit 2000 participants, with plans to increase to 100,000 over six years.
Dr Hanan Al Kuwari, Chair of the Qatar Biobank Steering Committee said that the facility would work closely with the government to identify health targets or areas for further investment, adding “This will enable Qatar not only to practice evidence based medicine but also evidence based public health".