What is the purpose of Genes & Health?

Genes & Health is establishing a panel of thousands of local volunteers. The volunteers will be asked to donate a small saliva (spit) sample and share their GP and hospital medical records in strict confidence with the study team. Volunteers will be asked to give their consent to be contacted again and some may be invited to participate in further medical research studies on the basis of data gathered from their samples and information.

Aims of the study

• To study normal variation in genes in adult Bangladeshi and Pakistani people. Knowing what is normal is important when searching for genes causing inherited childhood diseases
• To study genes in people with very high and very low cholesterol levels, to better understand why heart disease and stroke occurs
• To study variation in genes in healthy adults whose parents are related. These studies will tell us how genes work, and help develop new medicines
• To study genes of people with diabetes, aiming to identify rarer types of diabetes

Study inclusion criteria

• Self-described ethnicity: Bangladeshi, British-Bangladeshi, Pakistani, British-Pakistani
• Age 16 or over
• Willing to give a saliva DNA sample for analysis
• Willing to grant investigators access to medical records (GP & Hospital) for the duration of the study
• Willing to be invited for recall

For more information about the study or if you would like to participate, please email the study team: GenesandHealthresearchstudy@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk