Kaiser Permanente
09/23/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/23/2025 11:27
Our immense research bank drives medical breakthroughs
Kaiser Permanente wants to help people live healthier lives. One way we do this is through research. Research can lead to new medical discoveries and improve care and treatment.
We have a long history of conducting research.
- We started collecting health data from our members in 1961. The data we use in our research is de-identified to protect patient privacy.
- In the early 1970s, we began using electronic health records. This made it easier to securely access and track patient information.
- Over the past 50 years, we've conducted thousands of research studies to advance medicine and care delivery.
In 2014, we created a new way to help advance research: the Kaiser Permanente Research Bank.
What is a research bank?
Research banks (also known as biobanks) collect and store biological samples like blood and saliva, along with health information, to help scientists study health and disease.
We have one of the largest research banks in the world. Nearly half a million Kaiser Permanente members have given blood and saliva samples to the Kaiser Permanente Research Bank.
Kaiser Permanente Research Bank: Shaping the future of care
Our research bank has over 400,000 participants, making it one of the biggest in the world. It helps researchers study how to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases. Here's how it works.
Our members' contributions ...
- Biological samples
- Medical data
- Health and lifestyle data
enable health science research ...
that leads to new discoveries:
- Advancing precision medicine and medical science
- Reducing health disparities
- Informing translational science
- Leading to new care pathways that prevent and treat disease
Data can unlock better treatments
In addition to giving blood and saliva samples, people who join the research bank consent to using their health data (with their identities removed) and answer questions about their health through surveys. This information gives researchers a more complete picture of each person's health than looking at samples alone.
We recently used the research bank to genotype over 400,000 samples from members. Genotyping determines a person's genetic makeup, typically by analyzing their DNA for variations in genes. It may also help researchers link peoples' genetic differences with their health conditions and outcomes.
"With this data, researchers can understand how people's health is affected by their genes, behaviors, and surroundings," said Devin Absher, vice president of the Kaiser Permanente Research Bank. "This helps predict which treatments and prevention strategies will work best for different groups of people."
Our research bank includes more than 400,000 people who are from all 8 of our geographic regions. About 30% of the people who joined are of non-European ancestry. The diversity of our research bank helps our researchers find ways to prevent and treat disease that will work for everyone.
Current projects
Our researchers are using the Kaiser Permanente Research Bank to study what factors contribute to diseases like heart disease and diabetes. They're looking at factors like diet, exercise, and other lifestyle habits.
Other areas of research
- Metabolomics: Metabolomics is the study of tiny chemicals in the blood called metabolites. Metabolites are made during the body's normal chemical processes. Studying metabolites can help scientists understand how diseases start and who might be at risk.
- Microbiome: The microbiome includes all microbes - like bacteria, fungi, and viruses - that live in and on our bodies. Our research bank is helping scientists study how gut bacteria may affect ongoing health conditions and cancers.
What opportunities are next?
As we gather more data from surveys and include more samples in our research bank, our researchers will be better able to analyze differences between people. This will help doctors tailor treatments to a person's needs, which is known as precision medicine.
"Our goal is to improve care," Absher added. "Precision medicine will significantly transform health care in the future. The Kaiser Permanente Research Bank helps us evaluate these treatment opportunities."
Be part of advancing science, join the Kaiser Permanente Research Bank.
Kaiser Permanente published this content on September 23, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 23, 2025 at 17:49 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]