File photo used for representation only
Qatar Biobank, a member of Qatar Foundation, has encouraged eligible individuals to participate in its medical health research initiative to improve the health of the local population through personalised medicine.
Qatar Biobank is making vital health research possible through its collection of biological samples and data on health and lifestyle from a large number of Qatar’s population. Its cohort study, a population-based long-term study, aims to collect high quality biological samples and annotated data among Qataris and long-term residents who live in Qatar for at least 15 years to promote medical research. “You can download Qatar BioBank application, enter the data required for registration, and choose an available date for the first appointment date,” Qatar Biobank said in a tweet.
A follow-up study on the participants is done after five years of the first visit.
Qatar Biobank said, “We would like to invite all the participants at Qatar Biobank to book their 5-years follow-up visit. All you need to do is to contact us at: 44541177 and donate 3 hours to visit Qatar Biobank for a better healthier future.” All participants will consent to provide their biological samples and information to benefit research studies supporting translational medicine benefiting each patient.
They will undergo an assessment session lasting less than 3 hours, then undergo some health tests and give samples of blood, urine and saliva.
By March 2022, Qatar Biobank had enrolled nearly 30,000 participants.
During his follow-up visit, Fahad Hassan Al Qahtani said, “I thank Qatar Biobank for conducting tests which will benefit future generations. I visited Biobank in 2017, and this is my second visit. A comparison was made between the previous results and the new results, and I was advised by the specialist doctor to do sports and maintain healthy eating to avoid any chronic diseases in the future.”
Qatar Genome uses samples and data collected by Qatar Biobank to perform analysis of the omics data, establish local and international research partnerships and facilitate integration with the healthcare system.
According to Qatar Biobank, researchers at the Department of Nutrition at the College of Health Sciences at Qatar University, have conducted a study, using data from 2,536 Qatari adults aged 20-79 years from Qatar Biobank, which concluded that the body shape can predict the development of diabetes.
