 | |
 |
Our Mission Statement
In 1993, a population-based Multiethnic cohort study (MEC) was initiated. We began to enroll thousands of Los Angeles area
residents in a long term study designed to examine the link between lifestyle and cancer in ethnic groups.
This was the first serious attempt to enroll African Americans, Latinos, and Asian groups in such a study and
Los Angeles County was the perfect place to do it. The MEC is the only study of its kind and one of the three largest
ongoing cohort studies in the world.
The initial contact with the study members consisted of a 26 page questionnaire that collected information on
diet, prior history of specific medical conditions, use of vitamins and selected drugs, and family history of cancer.Recently USC researchers received a five year grant to collect biological samples (blood and urine)
on the MEC study members. It is believed that there is a tremendous potential of the MEC as a national resource
for understanding the cause not only of cancer but of other chronic disease can only be fully realized by this
establishment of a collected biological specimen bank.
It is our attempt to collect biological samples on as many of the MEC members as we can.
Each member is important and involved in a landmark study.
Our collection started in November of 2001 and to date we have collected blood specimens on
17,000 study members. We plan to collect approximately 36,000 more blood specimens at a rate of between
800 – 900 a month.
The university's seal displays three torches, representing the arts,
the sciences, and philosophy.
In heraldic language,
the torch is a symbol
of learning. In the background is the
setting sun,
representing the
West and (in heraldic symbolism)
power and life.
Embracing the torches
and sun is a California poppy, the USC
flower and heraldic
symbol of growth. Completing the seal
is the school motto.
Confidentiality
Protecting the confidentiality of research data is of paramount concern to all personnel involved in the study and to the
Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of Southern California.
The following safeguards are in place at USC:
• information from the original questionnaires is kept in secure computer files containing identification numbers only
(study id). Names are kept in a separate file that is used only to re-contact the subjects for follow-up purposes.
Only authorized staff members, currently the project manager and two programmers, have knowledge of how to link the files.• the original questionnaires have been discarded with the exception of the section useful for re-contacting the subjects.
This information is kept locked at all times and only authorized personnel are allowed access.• the informed consent form contains specific language regarding the confidentiality of information obtained from the
analysis of the blood specimen. Participants are given a copy to keep.• blood specimens are stored with a unique identification number only (specimen id). The study id, names and other personal
identifiers are never used. When specimens are provided to a laboratory for genetic testing, a third unique
identification number is assigned (laboratory id). Results of genetic tests are kept in secure computer files
containing the laboratory ID only. Only authorized staff members have knowledge of how to link the files.• files containing subject records and forms are kept locked at all times and only authorized personnel are allowed access.
Every employee who has access to confidential information has signed an individual pledge of confidentiality
and has completed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) Privacy Education Program at USC.• any data that is provided to investigators for analysis purposes does not contain any personal identifying information.
• results of genetic testing are reported in percentages and totals in such a way that no individual’s results can be identified.
Individual results are never given to anyone under any circumstances.
This website created and maintained by Sophia Gomez
University of Southern California, Department of Preventive Medicine
©2004
