How It Works
There are three steps you can take to join the Partners HealthCare Biobank. Please keep in mind that taking part in this research study is completely your choice. Your decision to join this study will not affect your clinical care in any way. By joining, you can help us better understand diseases that affect you as well as future generations.
Provide Consent
In order to join the Partners Biobank, please click the button below to read our consent form and linked information. You can then follow the simple instructions to provide your consent electronically on this web site. If you prefer, you can also contact us to schedule a time to meet with one of our Research Coordinators at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, McLean Hospital, or Spaulding Rehabilitation Network.
When you provide your consent to join the Partners Biobank, you agree to provide a blood sample linked with your electronic medical record. You also agree to be re-contacted by Partners Biobank staff in the future.
Read the Consent FormTake Health Information Survey
The Health Information Survey is a short questionnaire that should take about 5-10 minutes. The survey provides researchers with information that will help them understand how lifestyle, environment and family history contribute to disease. You may skip any questions you do not want to answer. Your responses will not change your medical care in any way. For example, the questionnaire will ask you about:
- Whether you smoke cigarettes or how much you exercise.
- The environment in which you live and work (for example, your exposure to the sun and what type of job you have).
- Your family history (for example, whether your parents have diabetes or cancer).
Contribute Blood Sample
Once you have provided your consent, we would like a blood sample from you. Our Biobank staff is available to perform research blood draws at the MGH and BWH main campuses. Directions are below.
If you cannot stop by one of our Biobank desks and blood is collected for your clinical care during your visit at the MGH or BWH main campuses, there is nothing more that you need to do! We will use the leftover from your clinical blood draw. In the future, we may collect another sample from you while you are having blood drawn for clinical care.
Unfortunately, we cannot yet collect blood in locations other than the BWH and MGH main campuses in Boston, but we are working hard on changing this. In the future, we hope to be able to collect blood samples at all hospitals and clinics across the Partners HealthCare system. The Biobank is a long-term study, and your blood sample will help researchers whether it is collected now or in the future. If you cannot go the BWH and MGH main campuses, there is nothing more that you need to do! In the future, we may collect a sample from you while you are having blood drawn for clinical care at any of Partners HealthCare hospital or clinic.
- Please visit our Partners Biobank Registration and Phlebotomy Offices located at:
The Wang Ambulatory Care Center at 15 Parkman Street on the second floor, room 238, next to the elevators (map). Open Monday to Friday from 8AM to 4PM.
The Yawkey Center at 55 Fruit Street on the third floor, room 3498, next to the elevators (map). Open Monday to Friday from 12PM to 4PM.
Please note modified hours:
Yawkey office closed July 3rd and 4th. Wang office open from 8AM-1:00PM July 3rd, closed July 4th.
- If you have questions about how to provide your blood sample please contact us at 617-525-6700 or at biobank@partners.org.
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- Please visit our Partners Biobank Research desk located in the main phlebotomy lab ("Blood Draw Services") at the Ambulatory Services Building, 45 Francis St., 2nd floor lobby, across from the information desk. Our desk is open Monday to Friday from 8AM to 4PM.
Please note modified hours:
Desk open from 8AM-1:00PM July 3rd. Closed July 4th.
- Enter the hospital through the 45 Francis Street Main Entrance.
- Make a left once inside the hospital so the information desk is on your right, and Blood Draw Services is on your left.
- Enter Blood Draw Services and visit the Partners Biobank Research desk.
- If you have questions about how to provide your blood sample please contact us at 617-525-6700 or at biobank@partners.org.
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By participating, you can help us better understand, treat, and even prevent the diseases that might affect your health and the health of future generations. With more participants like you, researchers can study the unique contribution of our genes, lifestyle, and family history to human disease.
Your privacy is very important. The Partners Biobank has implemented many safeguards to protect your privacy.
The purpose of the Partners Biobank is to accelerate the pace of medical discovery. You can help the initiative by joining in this study.
