Indian Perspectives on Human Genetic Variation Research (HAPMAP)

This project will engage members of Indian communities in the Houston metropolitan area to elicit their perspectives on genetic research and the International HapMap Project. The project will involve: 1) interviews with community leaders; 2) focus groups with community members; 3) working groups to develop culturally appropriate educational materials, research-recruitment strategies, and informed-consent instruments; 4) creation of a community advisory board; 5) collection of blood samples for use in the International HapMap Project and other studies of human genetic variation; and 6) follow-up after sample collection. Adult members of Indian communities in the Houston area will participate in these community consultations. This is an ideal setting in which to explore these issues since the Houston metropolitan area has a large immigrant population from India and several well established Indian-American communities. Following ethnographic investigations of community perspectives, researchers will recruit 130 unrelated individuals to donate blood samples for the purpose of studying human genetic variation and creating a human haplotype map. In addition to generating a number of work products of immediate relevance to the successful creation of a haplotype map, the project will add considerably to existing research and scholarship on the significance of social affiliations for the conduct of genomic research by examining community-specific understandings of genetics in a context in which members of the community are directly involved in a study in which they have a vested interest. By examining the intersection of racial/ethnic classifications and genomics, the project will provide valuable information about one of the most contentious aspects of contemporary genetic research.