What is a Biobank?

A biobank is a collection of biospecimens, such as blood, and related health information. In this case it is a collection of specimens from patients with pancreatic problems and healthy contributors as well. Our goal in collecting specimens and related health information is to further research in pancreas diseases, including cancer, to help prevent and develop better treatments.

How Can I Be Part of the Pancreas Biobank at Michigan Medicine

If you are someone who would like to help people diagnosed with pancreatic disease in the future, participating in our biobank may be right for you. Our biobank operation collects samples from patients at their convenience and connects the samples with researchers who study pancreatic disease. We collect multiple samples over time to understand how disease grows, changes, and responds to therapies. We also collect samples from healthy participants such as patients’ family members and from the general community.

As a Participant with Pancreatic Disease

Even if you are just undergoing testing for pancreatic problems we would greatly appreciate your participation.

• If you join our biobank, we will collect blood at your regularly-scheduled appointment(s) at the University of Michigan. No additional appointments are required.
• If you are undergoing surgery regarding your pancreas, we may be given a portion of removed tissue that of the tissue being discarded or stored away.
• If you are undergoing a biopsy regarding your pancreatic disease, we may collect additional pieces of tissue (biopsy cores) during the procedure. This would only happen if the proceduralists feels it is safe to collect additional tissue for our research team. Your safety always comes first.
• We do also look at and collect some of your health information related to your disease.

Frequently Asked Questions for Participants with Pancreatic Disease

Q: Will the doctors diagnosing and treating pancreatic disease be ok with me participating?
A: Yes. Our oncologists, gastroenterologists, surgeons, and proceduralists are aware of and supportive of participation in this study.

Q: Do I receive any benefit?
A: The goal of this study is to further the research in pancreas diseases, including cancer, to help prevent and develop better treatments. You will not directly receive any benefit.

Q: What if I live far away from Ann Arbor?
A: That is completely fine. We will collect a sample when you are at the main University of Michigan for your appointment. If you are unable to come back to UM, that is not a problem. We will not ask you to come to the hospital for this study.

Q: Is there any risk to me?
A: We do our best to collect blood only if you’re already having blood drawn or if you’re having an IV inserted. In this way we avoid having you be poked for our blood collection. It is possible an extra poke may be required, though. If you do undergo another poke, as with any blood draw, there is the risk of bruising or infection at the blood draw site.

If you’re undergoing a biopsy, regardless of if you participate in our research study or not, there are risks including pain, bleeding, and infection. The risks of additional biopsy for our research purposes include the same risks of the clinical core biopsy, up to 5 additional minutes under anesthesia, and a possible risk of additional bleeding and infection. While the core needle will already be in place from the clinical biopsy, exposure to the risks of core biopsies is increased with additional research biopsies. To reiterate, we only collect additional biopsy cores if the proceduralists feels it is safe to collect additional tissue for our research team. Your safety always comes first.
As with any research study, there may be additional risks that are unknown or unexpected.

Q: Will I be charged for anything?
A: No. You will not be charged for anything because of this study.

Q: Does this study mean I’ll have more appointments?
A: No. We do not ask you to come into the hospital just for this study.

Q: What if I want to leave the study?
A: You are welcome to leave the study at any time. Just let us know via email at (pancreas-biobank@med.umich.edu) and we will not collect any further samples.

Q: What happens with my samples?
A: All samples are labeled with a code which is only accessible to few researchers. This protects your identifiable information. We share samples with our team of pancreas researchers at the hospital, and sometimes we share samples outside Michigan Medicine. This is done in a coded manner and all guidelines are follower to do this properly and safely. The samples may be used to look at things such as protein and DNA that allow cancer to develop, or be used to grow cancer cell lines to identify which cellular signals drive cancer growth or respond to anti-cancer drugs.

Q: I am interested. How do I sign up?
A: Scroll down on this page. You will see our full consent form. Take the time to read through it. At the end of the form are four simple boxes to fill out:

1. Research Team Member’s Name: Valerie Gunchick
2. Full Name: Your first and last name
3. Signature: Your signature
4. Date: Today’s Date

Q: Can I have more information?
A: Of course. Feel free to call or email our team at pancreas-biobank@med.umich.edu. Additionally, more information is found in our consent form at the bottom of the page. Our team may also reach out to you to discuss participation.

As a Healthy Participant (Patients’ family members and the general community)

• If you join our biobank, we will contact you to discuss a time for a blood draw to be arranged. Blood draws must be done at the main University of Michigan hospital in Ann Arbor. If you have appointments at the hospital after the initial blood draw, we can collect blood there as well.
• We do also look at and collect some basic health information such as age and gender.

Frequently Asked Questions for Healthy Participants

Q: What if I live far away from Ann Arbor?
A: We can only use blood samples drawn at our main University of Michigan hospital so blood draws would need to happen here.

Q: Will I be charged for anything?
A: Not from the study, but you would need to pay for transportation to the hospital and parking.

Q: What if I want to leave the study?
A: You are welcome to. Just call us and let us know and we will not collect any further samples.

Q: Is blood only drawn one time?
A: We will work to arrange one blood draw with you. If you have appointments at the hospital in the future where blood can be drawn, we may draw blood there as well. We can also specifically arrange more blood draws with you if you would like to donate more than once.

Q: Is there any risk to me?
A: As with any blood draw, there is the risk of bruising or infection at the blood draw site. Additionally, there may be additional risks that are unknown or unexpected.

Q: What happens with my samples?
A: We can look at things such as genetic information, we can grow cell lines, we can grow disease in other organisms, or we can store samples for future use. All samples are labeled with a code only certain people have access. This protects your identifiable information. We do share samples with our team of pancreatic researchers at the hospital and we can share samples outside of the hospital as well. This is done in a coded manner and all guidelines are follower to do this properly and safely.

Q: I am interested. How do I sign up?
A: Scroll down on this page. You will see our full consent form. Take the time to read through it. At the end of the form are four simple boxes to fill out:

1. Research Team Member’s Name: Valerie Gunchick
2. Full Name: Your first and last name
3. Signature: Your signature
4. Date: Today’s Date

Q: Can I have more information?
A: Of course. Feel free to call or email our team at pancreas-biobank@med.umich.edu. Additionally, more information is found in our consent form at the bottom of the page. Our team may also reach out to you to discuss participation.