VUMC BioVU

Overview of Services

BioVU is the Vanderbilt biobank of DNA extracted from discarded blood collected during routine clinical testing and linked to de-identified clinical and demographic data within the Synthetic Derivative (SD). This resource has accrued ~288,000 DNA samples, ~19,000 of which are from pediatric patients, linked to the SD. This goal of this resource is to enable exploration of the relationships among genetic variation, disease susceptibility, and variable drug responses, and represent a key first step in moving the emerging sciences of genomics and pharmacogenomics from research tools to clinical practice. 

BioVU is:

• Large scale, including minority and rare disease populations, containing ~288,000 unique DNA samples
• Ready for use, avoids the costly and time-consuming accrual of patients into prospectively defined cohorts
• Reviewed rapidly, due to the IRB designated non-human subjects status
• EMR-derived, enabling real-world phenotypes to be derived electronically in a highly cost-efficient manner
• Rich in clinical narratives, and natural language processing methods provide rapid clarity regarding phenotype accuracy
• Robust, because the data are longitudinal, and every year more data are accumulated
• Unbiased, in that all diseases are included, in contrast to most clinical trials that exclude individuals with complex comorbidities or elderly patients
• Contains known patient medications, enabling associations between genetic variation to drug-responses

Location and hours of operation

Links and Resources

1. BioVU Information - For VU/VUMC Investigators
2. BioVU Public Site