Clinical Trials / Research Studies

Discover Together Biobank

The Discover Together Biobank is a Cincinnati Children’s program developed with you – our patients, families and community – in mind.

In fact, members of the Cincinnati community came up with the name Discover Together Biobank. Why this name? It says it all: Research is a two-way street. People who participate in a biobank help researchers find treatments and cures, and they also help their community benefit from improved health. It takes everyone working together to make important medical discoveries.

Participation in the Discover Together Biobank is completely voluntary. It won’t affect the care you or your child receives from Cincinnati Children’s.

What is a Biobank?

Bio means life. Think of biology, which is the study of life. Bank means a safe and protected place to keep valuables. Therefore, a biobank is a “bank of life.”

The Discover Together Biobank is a secure place where we keep our research valuables – the samples (blood, saliva, tissues) and the information that goes along with those samples – so that our researchers and their collaborators can work with these samples and data to find treatments and cures for diseases.

What Can You Find Out from My Sample (Blood, Saliva, Tissues)?

Cincinnati Children’s researchers can learn how to better:

• Diagnose disease
• Treat disease
• Cure disease
• Prevent disease
• Understand why people react differently to the same medications
• Understand why some people stay healthy

Ultimately, this will benefit individuals and give input into what matters most for community health.

Why Is Biobank Research So Important?

Biobanks allow scientists to accomplish more. Rather than taking a large amount of time to recruit research participants, they can request samples from the biobank that fit their needs. For example, if they want to study 12-year-olds with type 1 diabetes or collaborate with scientists at other children’s hospitals to study a rare disease, they can quickly and easily locate those samples in a biobank to study the disease or treatment.

Who Will Be Asked – Or Can Volunteer – to Participate in the Discover Together Biobank?

Anyone can participate in the Discover Together Biobank. Some families or children may be asked specifically to participate if they are having other clinical tests done anyway, such as genetic testing, or if they are participating in another research study that is working with the Discover Together Biobank.

It is often very important to get one or both parents (called a “trio”) to give a sample(s) at the same time as a child’s sample. This gives researchers more information to work with to understand the impact of certain genes on disease or health.

For anyone who decides to participate, the Discover Together Biobank will collect an extra tube of blood (or less for small children) when they are getting clinical testing done.