Nation's premier health maintenance research group to collaborate with innovative international genomics research consortium
The International Serious Adverse Events Consortium (SAEC) announced today it will collaborate with the HMO Research Network (HMORN) to improve the safe use of drugs by exploring why the genetic makeup of some individuals makes them more likely to experience serious drug-related adverse events (SAEs). The SAEC is a novel, non-profit international research consortium. The HMORN is the nation's premier resource for population-based health care outcomes research.
The collaboration will diversify the SAEC methods for developing SAE research cohorts, which is essential to furthering research goals of the organization. It will determine the feasibility of using the HMORN's centralized clinical data warehouse to research the genetics of drug-induced serious adverse events. This warehouse includes data relating to inpatient admissions and emergency room and outpatient visits representing 14 million unique patients. The research collaboration will initially focus on three drug-induced SAEs: hepatotoxicity, serious skin rashes, and extreme weight gain in users of atypical antipsychotic medications.
Initially, the collaboration will involve six members of the HMORN: Geisinger Center for Health Research, Group Health Research Institute, HealthPartners Research Foundation, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research-Southeast, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research-Hawaii and Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation. Each HMO will use detailed clinical profiles to search for potential subjects to enroll into current and future SAE research projects. Accuracy and completeness of the data will be assessed, as well as methods to ensure that data are robust. The first phase of this collaboration is expected to take 12 months.