Central Biorepository Spotlight: Michigan Genomics Initiative (MGI)

The Michigan Genomics Initiative (MGI) is a collaborative research effort with the goal of harmonizing patient electronic medical records with genetic data to gain novel biomedical insights. An institutional repository of DNA and genetic data that is linked to medical phenotype and electronic health record (EHR) information, MGI comprises a broad portfolio of data from tens of thousands of individuals and continues to add approximately ten thousand new participants annually.

MGI enrolls participants using a patient-centric informational pamphlet and a simple, opt-in informed consent form. Participants agree to provide the study team with access to EHR data for clinical information and biospecimens for genotyping, and may also be asked to answer survey questions. Each participant may be re-contacted in the future for follow-up studies if he/she has a genotype or clinical condition of interest to investigators.

Biospecimens collected (usually a tube of blood or a vial of saliva) are sent to the Central Biorepository for processing, and DNA is isolated from the biospecimens. A portion of that DNA is set aside for genotyping.

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Central Biorepository Spotlight: Medical Genomics