Grant Number:	3U01CA199277-07S1 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Lacey, James
Organization:	Beckman Research Institute/City Of Hope
Project Title:	Genome-Wide Genotyping of Existing Samples From Asian American and Pacific Islander Participants in the California Teachers Study Cohort to Facilitate Broad and Open Future Research
Fiscal Year:	2021

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This application is being submitted in response to the Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) identified as NOT-CA- 21-049. Our California Teachers Study (CTS), a cancer epidemiology cohort (CEC), is ideally positioned to help advance the goals of this Notice. We propose to leverage existing biospecimens to increase representation of racial/ethnic minority samples in germline genome-wide genotyping data repositories with accompanying exposure, phenotype, and outcome data; and to broadly share these data with the research community. CTS participants from racial/ethnic minority populations recently donated biospecimens and have provided extensive and broad exposure, phenotype, and outcome data for years. The specimens are currently stored in freezers and can now be genotyped and shared with the community for high-impact and hypothesis- driven research. Biospecimens in large CECs like the CTS are especially valuable because they create opportunities to directly investigate the combined influence of environment, lifestyle, and biomarkers on cancer risks and outcomes. Many CECs today have biospecimens that could be genotyped to create multi-level data that can be used for integrative analyses into cancer risks and outcomes. In this application, we describe three factors that make the CTS especially well qualified to accelerate the NCI's research goals in this area. One, although the CTS is a CEC, the CTS is also more than just a CEC. Since it began, the CTS has used efficient data-linkages with California hospitalization databases to obtain detailed individual-level inpatient, emergency department, and ambulatory surgery outcomes data for all of its participants who have provided blood samples. This means CTS's genotyping data can support not just cancer research projects, but also research on other important chronic diseases (e.g., heart disease, diabetes, and dementia) and health-care endpoints. Two, this application focuses on Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) CTS participants. As a group, AAPIs are at higher risk of cancer but significantly understudied, especially within CECs. AAPIs are also incredibly diverse, and this makes precise AAPI-focused research a challenge. AAPI phenotypes in the CTS have been characterized in detail and in ways that can help accelerate broad-based genomics research. CTS participants reported their own race/ethnicity and that of both of their parents. Within every AAPI ethnic group, approximately 90% of CTS participants have parents who were from the same AAPI ethnic group; i.e., both parents were Chinese, or were Vietnamese, or were Filipino. This creates a level of precision that will further extend the future range of research that these CTS data can support. Third, the CTS is a leader among CECs in data sharing. Since 2015, we have developed new ways, tools, and infrastructure to share all CTS information and resources with the research community. All of those assets will help ensure the success of this project. The sooner these samples are genotyped, the sooner they can be used by the community for high- impact research projects that promote data sharing and help close gaps in AAPI research.





None. See parent grant details.