SAN ANTONIO, July 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- South Texas Blood & Tissue has partnered with the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program, to recruit and engage participants in one of the nation’s largest and most diverse health information databases.
All of Us aims to enroll at least 1 million participants who reflect the rich diversity of the U.S. Participants can choose to share information about their health history, their environment and they can contribute a blood or saliva sample. This information will help researchers learn how biology, lifestyle and our environment affect our health.
One of the biggest goals of this program is to increase diversity in medical research. Many populations have been left out of research in the past, which means less is known about the health of those groups.
South Texans can join the program by visiting JoinAllofUs.org/SouthTexasBlood. After completing an online portion (including study consents and health history surveys), participants may be asked to visit South Texas Blood & Tissue in San Antonio to have physical measurements taken and give blood and urine samples for the program.
Biological information, health surveys and physical measurements all can help researchers in the new field of precision medicine, which aims to create tailored treatments that are not one-size-fits-all. With this resource, researchers will be able to conduct thousands of studies on health and disease.
All information collected for All of Us will be stored on protected computers, and the NIH will remove participants’ names and other direct identifiers like Social Security numbers.
Participants may be compensated for their time and travel with a $25 gift card after giving their samples at South Texas Blood & Tissue. Through participating in the program, participants also can receive specific information about their DNA that could help them learn about their unique traits and genetic ancestry, if they want to receive genetic health-related information.
Anyone 18 years or older living in the United States may participate in this program, regardless of health condition or prior blood donation eligibility.
Joining All of Us is another way for generous donors to improve the health of communities and future generations.
To learn more about All of Us, please call 210-731-5589 or email Research@SouthTexasBlood.org.
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About South Texas Blood & Tissue: South Texas Blood & Tissue (STB&T) is a nonprofit community blood center that provides blood, plasma, platelets, and other blood components to 100 hospitals in 48 South Texas counties. It is the largest blood supplier in our region. In addition, STB&T supports the development of advanced therapies, including those derived from donated human cells and tissues used in research and in new therapies and cures for cancers and degenerative diseases. Through the generous life-legacy gifts of human tissue, STB&T also supports development of tissue allografts for patients in need of reconstructive surgery, repair, or tissue regeneration. STB&T has a 47-year history serving the South Texas community and is part of the BioBridge Global family of nonprofit organizations, which offers services in regenerative medicine and research including blood banking and resource management; cellular therapy; umbilical cord blood collection and storage; donated human tissue recovery and distribution for transplant; and testing of blood and plasma products to help patients in the United States and worldwide. STB&T has seven donor centers in South Texas and conducts hundreds of mobile blood drives each year. STB&T is online at SouthTexasBlood.org.
About BioBridge Global: BioBridge Global (BBG) is a San Antonio-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit regenerative medicine enterprise that offers diverse services through its subsidiaries – South Texas Blood & Tissue, QualTex Laboratories, GenCure and The Blood & Tissue Center Foundation. BBG provides products and services in blood resource management, cellular therapy, donated umbilical cord blood and human tissue, as well as testing of blood, plasma and tissue products for clients in the United States and worldwide. BBG is committed to saving and enhancing lives through the healing power of human cells and tissue. It enables advances in the field of regenerative medicine by providing access to human cells and tissue, testing services and biomanufacturing and clinical trials support. Learn more at BioBridgeGlobal.org.
All of Us is a registered service mark of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
