Information for Participants

BioMe Biobank is an ongoing collection of blood samples, genetic data and health information to be used for present and future research projects. Using genetic information obtained from blood samples along with health information, scientists can gain a better understanding of the factors that cause disease. This understanding may then lead to interventions that prevent a disease from occurring or to new targets for treating a disease.

BioMe provides Mount Sinai patients and community members a unique opportunity to participate in a large variety of important breakthrough biomedical research at minimal personal inconvenience and risk by signing up and donating a tube of blood once. If you are interested in getting involved with the BioMe Biobank Program at Mount Sinai, the following paragraphs provide practical answers to frequently asked questions.

Why should you participate in the BioMe Biobank Program?
By volunteering in the BioMe Biobank Program you are contributing to research that may create new means of preventing and treating disorders from which you, your family, or your friends may suffer. Heart disease, cancer, asthma diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease are just a few of the conditions BioMe may help scientists understand.

How do you volunteer for the BioMe Biobank Program?
You may volunteer for BioMe whenever you have an appointment with your doctor at Mount Sinai. Once you tell your doctor or the front desk staff that you are interested, they will call the BioMe recruiter to meet with you. In addition, trained BioMe Biobank recruiting staff may approach you while you may be waiting for medical services such as blood draws at Mount Sinai clinical care facilities.

Once you speak with the BioMe recruiter, do you have to participate?
No. The recruiter will explain the BioMe Biobank program to you and answer any questions you have. If you change your mind at anytime, even years from now, your blood sample will be destroyed and your information will be permanently removed from the BioMe Biobank database.

If you volunteer, what will be asked of you?
After the recruiter explains the BioMe Biobank Program to you and answers your questions, you will be asked to sign a “Consent Form to Volunteer in a Research Study”. You will also be given a questionnaire, which will take approximately fifteen minutes. You will then have a small amount of blood drawn from a vein in your arm. The blood may be drawn at the same time as your routine blood draw for medical care, as part of your participation in another Mount Sinai research study, or solely for BioMe Biobank purposes.

How will BioMe protect your privacy?
In storage and when shared with researchers, your samples and health information will only be identified by a code. No names or other identifying information will be shared with anyone without your prior approval. BioMe takes the privacy of all participants seriously and for that reason the National Institutes of Health awarded BioMe a "Certificate of Confidentiality", which helps assure confidentiality and privacy.