Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station

15 May, 01 PM - 31 May, 01 PM

Currently eighty-eight percent of large-scale screens of human genetic variation and ninety-five percent of clinical trials exclusively feature individuals of European ancestry. As a result, the future of biomedicine (i.e. personalized, predictive, and preventative medicine) does not include underrepresented minorities (including Indigenous peoples). This bias and systematic lack of engagement of underrepresented minorities / Indigenous people in both clinical trials and genome studies is partially the result of a history of distrust. In partnership with the Atitia Center and the University of California Berkeley Gump Research Station (both located in Mo’orea, Tahiti), and the Institut Louis-Malardé Oceanian Genomes working group led by Dr. Van-Mai Cao-Lormeau I would like to establish a long-term partnership to address this bias in genome studies and precision medicine. In the short-term (From January - March, 2021) I will explore local collaborations and begin to establish a research team composed of local and international interdisciplinary Indigenous / Oceanian scholars. Our long goal is to recruit Polynesian community members as partners / participants in a long-term study to develop a high-resolution population specific reference genome that will have great utility in understanding; 1.) our diaspora through the Pacific and; 2.) provide great insight into combating health disparities including infectious disease, metabolic disease, heart disease, and cancer which disproportionately impact members of the Polynesian community.

Visit #69542 @Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station

Approved

Under Project # 45734 | Research

Creating a Polynesian population specific reference genome

faculty - University of California, San Diego

Reservation Members(s)

Keolu Fox May 15 - 31, 2021 (17 days)

Reserve Resources(s) | Create Invoice

Studio Bungalow (Maito) 1 May 15 - 31, 2021