Camden’s Coriell Institute for Medical Research will maintain its role as steward of a prominent genetics repository, under a five-year, $9.2 million grant announced Monday.
By winning the competitive grant process, from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Coriell will continue its role with the NIGMS Human Genetic Cell Repository, a collection of high-quality cell lines and DNA samples that includes genetic diseases, distinct human populations and more, the institute said in a news release.
“Coriell has been the trusted steward of the NIGMS Human Genetic Cell Repository since its inception at Coriell in 1972, and we are eager to continue this collaboration into the future,” Nahid Turan, Coriell’s chief biobanking officer, said in a prepared statement. “In almost five decades of this collection’s existence, it has become a critical part of the global research infrastructure, offering scientists around the world one-of-a-kind biological samples they can trust to enable their research.”
A key aspect of the collection is its samples of genetic disorders, including some of the world’s rarest, which are a crucial part of the efforts to find cures for these inheritable diseases.
“The importance of the NIGMS Human Genetic Cell Repository in the rare disease community cannot be overstated,” Deborah Requesens, principal investigator of the collection, said in a statement. “It allows patients and families to participate in research, making their own samples available to scientists around the world. When patients donate to the NIGMS Human Genetic Cell Repository, they are contributing in a tangible way to the discovery of treatments and cures for their disease.”
