The National Human Genome Research Institute has renewed its collaborative agreement with the Coriell Institute for Medical Research. For another five years, Coriell will continue to manage the NHGRI Sample Repository for Human Genetic Research, a collection of cell lines and DNA for use in research around the world.
“The NHGRI Sample Repository for Human Genetic Research is a treasure for genetics research and it’s an honor to be selected to continue our role as the collection’s host,” said Jean-Pierre Issa, MD, President and CEO of Coriell. “The samples contained in this collection were used in several of the most important studies in human genetics and its focus on increasing diversity in human genetics research is potentially transformative.”
This collection was first established by NHGRI in 2006 as a public resource for scientists investigating human genetic variation carried by populations living around the world. Fifteen years later, it is still considered one of the most important resources in human genetics and genomics.
The NHGRI Sample Repository for Human Genetic Research contains unique collections of samples such as the landmark International HapMap and 1000 Genomes Projects, which are known for diverse DNA and cell lines characterized by large-scale genomic data.
“The future of the NHGRI Repository is exciting,” said Laura Scheinfeldt, PhD, Coriell’s Director of Repository Science and Principal Investigator of the collection. “This important collection has supported the human genetics community for many years and will be an important resource to promote the inclusion of global genetic and genomic variation in studies of human health and disease for years to come.”
In 2019, the NHGRI Repository joined the Human Pangenome Reference Consortium with Coriell’s contribution being led by Dr. Matthew W. Mitchell, the Co-Principal Investigator of this collection. This nationwide collaboration was formed in 2019 by distinguished researchers in the field of human genomics to improve the human genome reference sequence and continues to be an important collaborative effort for the NHGRI Repository team at Coriell moving forward.
Over the past five years, the NHGRI Repository has distributed tens of thousands of biospecimens to 47 countries around the world.
